SJC determines that where there is a material difference between two positions in terms of opportunity to earn compensation, or in the terms, conditions or privileges of employment, an employer’s failure to grant a lateral transfer may constitute an adverse employment action under M.G.L. c. 151B.
A fired Pittsfield police officer who made statements in a report that were “intentionally misleading” but not false, was reinstated after the SJC ruled that an arbitrator’s ruling can only be overturned if an officer’s deception leads to false charges. City of Pittsfield, 2018 WL 4762406 (2018). In this case, the officer was fired for [...]
In Chadwick v. Duxbury Public Schools, 475 Mass. 645 (2016), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) declined to recognize the existence of a “union member-union” privilege within M.G.L. c. 150E (collective bargaining statute), and declined to create such privilege under common law. While conceding that a union member-union privilege has never been recognized in Massachusetts, [...]
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) recently issued a decision in Champa v. Town of Weston Public Schools, which vacates a prior decision of the superior court and balances the public’s right of access to government records with a student’s right to individual privacy and the confidentiality of student records. 2015 WL 6394201 (Oct. 23, [...]
HRD's Delegation To Local Appointing Authorities To Issue And Receive Bypass Letters Deemed Permissible, And Flawed Selection Process Not Fatal To Promotion Bypass Decision Ultimately Based On The Merits In two promotion bypass cases decided on September 24, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) upheld the streamlined way that bypass letters are issued and made it [...]
The Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that a municipality cannot require an employee to work for it a minimum number of years prior to retirement as a condition of that municipality contributing toward the cost of the employee’s retiree health insurance. As long as the employee is eligible for retirement benefits under c. 32, the [...]
It has been four years since the Commonwealth Employment Relations Board ("CERB") took the view that municipal employers have a duty to bargain health insurance contribution rates of certain retirees, i.e. current employees who will retire in the future. Under CERB’s logic, an employer could unilaterally alter the health insurance contribution rate of persons already [...]
Employers are risking more than the employee being placed at the top of the next list when they rely on a faulty psychological evaluation to bypass an applicant for police officer. A Superior Court decision issued in August in Boston Police Department v. Kavaleski et al. ruled that the City of Boston was liable for [...]
In an important victory for Massachusetts school districts and statewide efforts towards increased accountability for educators, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) has issued a decision which limits the scope of authority granted to an arbitrator under the state’s teacher dismissal statute. School Committee of Lexington v. Zagaeski, 2014 WL 3393541 (July 14, 2014). The [...]
On June 2, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) decided in Twomey et al v. Town of Middleborough that the Board of Selectmen and not a vote of Town Meeting, determine how much a retiree must contribute toward the premium cost of an HMO insurance plan.