The Attorney General’s revisions to the Open Meeting Law (OML) regulations which took effect October 6 include the following: While notices must continue to be filed with the municipal clerk, the municipal website is the only alternative to posting the official notice on the bulletin board where the municipal clerk’s office is located. Even though [...]
Starting April, 2018, the Massachusetts Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”) will prohibit discrimination based on pregnancy, and medical related conditions, including “lactation or the need to express breast milk for a nursing child.” The Act prohibits an employer from taking any adverse action against a pregnant employee, including denying employment or dismissing an employee who [...]
In Daniel Zaiter v. Boston Police Department, the Superior Court overturned a decision by the Civil Service Commission and held the Boston Police Department (BPD) had reasonable justification for bypassing Zaiter for a position as a Boston police officer based on two events that had occurred 20 years earlier, in 1995. The first was his [...]
In Barbuto v. Advantage Sales and Marketing, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled that an employee terminated for using medical marijuana may have a viable claim of handicap discrimination under G. L. c. 151B. The Court refused to recognize an implied private right of action under the medical marijuana statute. Barbuto accepted a position with [...]
In Lizette Emma v. Department of Correction (July 6, 2017), the Civil Service Commission refused to enforce a Last Chance Agreement (LCA) against Corrections Officer Emma in which she had waived all rights of appeal in the event of a future offense. Emma signed the LCA with the advice and consent of the Union in [...]
In City of Boston v. Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association (SJC Docket 12077) (July 12, 2017), the Supreme Judicial Court denied the City’s motion to vacate an arbitrator’s award reinstating Boston police officer David Williams. In March 2009, Williams applied a chokehold to arrest an unarmed intoxicated suspect, Michael O’Brien, for disorderly conduct, without any prior verbal [...]
An employer need not create a position nor re-establish a position to accommodate an employee with a disability. That was the holding in Audette v. Town of Plymouth et. al., 858 F.3d 13 (May 26, 2017), a recent decision by the First Circuit Court of Appeals in which the Court determined that the Plymouth Police Department [...]
In April 2016, we advised that the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Director of Human Resources (HRD)could exercise sufficient control over an individual’s employment to be subject to individual (personal) liability under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Graziadio v. Culinary Institute of America et al., 817 F.3d 415 (2016). At the [...]
A Plaintiff found out the hard way in a case decided on April 7 that even the Employee is held to a reasonable cooperation standard in the interactive process under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) designed to put in place reasonable accommodations for the Employee’s disability. In Ortiz-Martinez v. Fresnius Health Partners et al, [...]
In Town of Natick and Natick Patrol Officers Association (February 17, 2017), a Department of Labor Relations (DLR) Hearing Officer held that the Town failed to bargain over the impact of its decision in April, 2014 to adopt a policy requiring police officers to administer NARCAN. The Union demanded to bargain over both the decision and [...]