Labor – Accretion
Where a union has filed a unit clarification petition seeking to accrete the “O’Maley Science Center Coordinator” to a bargaining unit of teachers and others employed by the Gloucester School...
View ArticleLabor – Accretion
Where a union has filed a unit clarification petition to accrete the title of “Inspectional Services Department Liaison” into a bargaining unit of specialized employees within the city of Somerville,...
View ArticleLabor – Stipends – Base pay
Where a union has filed a grievance over the city of Lowell’s calculation of “Emergency Medical Technician and Education Incentive” stipends, the grievance should be denied because the city did not...
View ArticleLabor – Base wage increase – CBA
Where a grievance has been filed over the denial of a base wage increase for a town’s one full-time firefighter-EMT, the town violated a collective bargaining agreement, which unambiguously requires...
View ArticleEmployment – Vaccination – Religious objection
Where a plaintiff has brought suit over his termination from the defendant Department of Youth Services after his refusal to receive a COVID vaccine, the accommodations the plaintiff requested would...
View ArticleJurisdiction – Corporate officers – Wage Act
Where two defendants claiming a lack of personal jurisdiction have filed a motion to dismiss, that motion should be denied with respect to a defendant corporate officer whose individual actions in...
View ArticleEmployment – Retaliation – False Claims Act
Where a defendant employer has moved for summary judgment on a retaliation count under the False Claims Act, that motion should be denied because a reasonable jury could infer that the defendant...
View ArticleEmployment – Retaliation – Pretext
Where a plaintiff who was terminated has brought suit, the defendants’ motion for summary judgment should be allowed with respect to the plaintiff’s retaliation claims, as there is no genuine question...
View ArticleJurisdiction – Transfer – Forum selection clause
Where a defendant company headquartered in Michigan has moved to transfer the plaintiffs’ overtime claims, that motion should be denied despite a forum selection clause in the plaintiffs’ severance...
View ArticleContract – Noncompete clause – Franchise agreement
Where plaintiffs have moved for a preliminary injunction to enforce a noncompete clause in a franchise agreement, that motion should be allowed because the plaintiffs have demonstrated that they have a...
View ArticleWidower of employee slain at home denied accidental death benefits
A public school employee who was shot and killed when she answered the door while working from home was not actively engaged in discharging her job duties at the time of her injury, making her widower...
View ArticleRetirement – Accidental disability – Causation
Where the petitioner, a police officer, applied for accidental disability, the Revere Retirement Board’s vote to deny his application should be reversed based on evidence that his incapacity was likely...
View ArticleRetirement – Teacher – Prior vocational service
Where the Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement System found a petitioner ineligible to purchase her prior vocational service, that ruling should be upheld because the petitioner missed the statutory...
View ArticleRetirement – Teacher – Reading clinician
Where the Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement System denied a petitioner’s application to buy service under G.L.c. 32, §4(1)(p), that decision should be upheld because the petitioner was not a teacher...
View ArticleRetirement – Moral turpitude – Drug distribution
Where the petitioner’s employment as a correction officer was terminated after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute prescription drugs, a decision by the Boston Retirement Board determining...
View ArticleRetirement – Regular compensation – Bonus
Where the Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement System ruled that $500 payments to a petitioner in each of his last three years as a high school principal were not regular compensation, that ruling should...
View ArticleRetirement – ‘Anti-spiking’ law
Where a petitioner has challenged the calculation of her retirement allowance, that challenge lacks merit, as the State Board of Retirement properly applied the “anti-spiking” law, G.L.c. 32, §5(2)(f).
View ArticleRetirement – Group 1 – Deputy state fire marshal
Where the State Board of Retirement classified a petitioner’s position as Group 1 rather than Group 4, that decision should be upheld because the petitioner’s functional job title, deputy state fire...
View ArticleRetirement – Surviving spouse – Separation
Where the State Board of Retirement found a petitioner not to be entitled to retirement benefits as a surviving spouse of a state employee, that decision should be upheld because the petitioner was not...
View ArticleRetirement – Group 2
Where the State Board of Retirement denied a petitioner’s application for reclassification to Group 2, the application should have been allowed because the petitioner provided direct care well over 50...
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