When may the employer question whether an employee’s request for an accommodation is due to a sincerely held religious belief? While the sincerity of the belief cannot be successfully challenged by the employer on summary judgment, an employee’s proffered explanations at the time of the request may cause the trier of fact to conclude that it is not sincerely held. The question arose in the context of a hospital that required its staff to be fully vaccinated against COVID. The

Comment Period is Open for Draft Regulations on Seasonal Communities The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities has published proposed regulations for seasonal communities, per G.L. c. 23B, § 32. Public comments will be accepted until October 31, 2025. Wage Transparency Act is Now in Effect Ch. 141 of the Acts of 2024, the Wage Transparency Act, went into effect on October 29, 2025. Are you in compliance? Review our September 2024 summary of the law if you ne

Regulations for Small Clean Energy Infrastructure Projects The Department of Energy Resources has issued draft regulations for an...

Negotiations for collective bargaining agreements, just as with any negotiation, are a matter of compromise. Rarely do unions or...

The Supreme Judicial Court issued an important decision regarding the discontinuance of public ways in the case of Town of Concord v....

Chapter 9 of the Acts of 2025, Section 51, amends the liquor licensure statute to include a local acceptance option applicable to...

Municipalities should be aware of the requirements for receiving funds from settlements of national litigation with Purdue and the...

On August 7, 2025, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) affirmed the mandatory forfeiture of a former state trooper’s pension following his...

DOR Guidance on Interest on Tax Taking Properties The Division of Local Services Municipal Law Finance Bureau has released Bulletin...

Towns may be receiving a flurry of correspondence from the nationwide opioid settlement administrator in the coming weeks regarding the...

Massachusetts joined with nineteen other states to seek injunctive relief against a requirement from the Secretary of Transportation that...

In Cannata v. Town of Mashpee , decided by the Supreme Judicial Court on June 18, the appellant was a firefighter who had worked for the...

Updated Open Meeting Law Guide; Updated Charts for Procurement Processes; Updated Advisory on 3A The Attorney General has issued an ...

It is counterintuitive – how can the employer retaliate against an employee by giving the employee a raise? Yet that was the conclusion...

Knowledgeable readers will recall that in February, the State Auditor’s Division of Local Mandates issued an opinion that G.L. c. 40A, §...

Communities that now or in the future receive settlement funds as a result of the class action litigation against 3M and DuPont for PFAS...

Guidance on Immigration There have been two recent developments that provide guidance and assistance to local officials as concerns...

Our readers will no doubt be familiar with G.L. c. 40A, § 3, also known as the Dover Amendment, because of its protections for...

Towns are exempt from liability under the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act (MTCA) for claims based upon performance of “discretionary...

On April 30, the State Ethics Commission ordered a Medfield High School’s Head Football Coach to pay a $16,000 civil penalty for...