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A Reminder of the Draconian Penalties for Violation of the Wage Act
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) recently reiterated the draconian penalties under even an unintentional violation of the...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Apr 28, 20223 min read
Wage Act Penalties Not Applicable to FLSA Violations
On April 14, 2022, the Supreme Judicial Court held, in Devaney v. Zucchini Gold, LLC, that employees who assert wage claims available...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Apr 28, 20222 min read
Rapid Fire Update - April 2022
Outdoor Dining and Takeaway/Delivery of Alcohol As part of an omnibus appropriations bill, the Governor signed into law extensions of...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Apr 28, 20221 min read
Certain Special COVID Rules are Extended
Chapter 22 of the Acts of 2022 went into effect on February 15, 2022. It has several important provisions. It extends until July 15,...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Mar 24, 20221 min read
Massachusetts COVID-19 Emergency Paid Sick Leave Program Has Ended
On February 28, 2022, the Executive Office for Administration and Finance announced that the Massachusetts COVID-19 Emergency Paid Sick...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Mar 24, 20221 min read
Natural Gas Companies Submit Report and Proposals to Meet Commonwealth Climate Goals
The Commonwealth’s climate goals include reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In support of this target, the Department of...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Mar 24, 20221 min read
Updates on Opioid Litigation
In the culmination of a years-long multidistrict litigation targeting opioid-maker J&J and distributors McKesson, Cardinal, and...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Mar 24, 20221 min read
Updated Guidance on the Public Records Act Exemption (c)
The privacy exemption contained in the Public Records Law was amended in 2020, in a manner that many may have thought was minor at the...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Feb 25, 20222 min read
Conservation Commissions Must Hold Timely Hearings to Maintain Local Control
In Boston Clear Water Co., LLC v. Lynnfield, the Massachusetts Appeals Court examined the effect of a local conservation commission’s...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Feb 25, 20222 min read
"Regular Compensation" as Applied to Determination of an Employee's Effective Retirement Date
- The Interplay of M.G.L. c.32 and M.G.L. c.152 Under M.G.L. c.152, the Worker Compensation statute, worker compensation benefits are...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Feb 25, 20222 min read
Rapid Fire Update - February 2022
The Division of Local Services is continuing its recent efforts to update its Informational Guideline Releases. IGR-2022-1 explains...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Feb 25, 20221 min read
A Court Weighs in on Vaccine Mandates and Impact Bargaining
Our last newsletter summarized a ruling by an investigator of the Department of Labor Relations regarding the need to bargain over the...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Jan 27, 20222 min read
The Largest Pension Forfeiture to Date Does Not Constitute an Unconstitutionally Excessive Fine
The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits excessive fines but it is only recently that the U.S. Supreme Court considered...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Jan 27, 20222 min read
Public Employers Must Bargain Fitness-for-Duty Examination Procedures
Most public employers are aware that they have the managerial right to order an employee to undergo a fitness-for-duty examination. In...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Jan 27, 20223 min read
Rapid Fire Update - January 2022
LFO 2022-1: Exemption Eligibility for Electric Generating Systems When Situated on Property Owned by a Governmental Entity The DOR...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Jan 27, 20221 min read
A Superior Court Judge Upholds a Mask Mandate for Schools
A justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court recently denied a request for a preliminary injunction filed by parents and citizen rights...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Dec 20, 20213 min read
More Fallout from COVID: Vaccine Mandates and Impact Bargaining
Employers in the age of COVID are moving beyond mask mandates and requiring vaccines, including boosters, as a condition of continued...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Dec 20, 20212 min read
Groundwater, a Wellspring of Interstate Litigation?
In its recent decision in Mississippi v. Tennessee, ___ U.S. ___, 142 S. Ct. 31 (Nov. 22, 2021), the U.S. Supreme Court, adjudicating a...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Dec 20, 20212 min read
Rapid Fire Update - December 2021
New Quotas for Liquor Licenses The Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission has updated each municipality’s quota for liquor licenses based...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Dec 20, 20211 min read
Cruel and Humiliating Responses to Unpaid School Lunch Debt Are Now Unlawful
Students and parents get assistance with unpaid school lunch debt.
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Oct 28, 20212 min read