{"id":224,"date":"2020-01-03T17:30:02","date_gmt":"2020-01-03T17:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/?p=224"},"modified":"2021-06-10T16:19:16","modified_gmt":"2021-06-10T16:19:16","slug":"the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/2020\/01\/03\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"The “Top Five Cases” We Watched in 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we kick off the new decade, we’re wrapping up the top five cases and topics of importance to executives and professionals from 2019:<\/p>\n

1. Calixto v. Coughlin<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

In Calixto v. Coughlin<\/em>, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court determined that an employer\u2019s failure to provide \u201cnotice pay\u201d (compensation paid in lieu of notice) did not violate the Wage Act. The Court observed that the employees were not required to \u2013 and, most importantly, did not \u2013 work for the notice pay, and so the monies at issue were not earned wages to which the Wage Act applied. However, the Court did not foreclose other avenues to recover the notice pay, and in fact, in Calixto<\/em>, the plaintiffs recovered damages under the WARN Act, a federal law that regulates large-scale layoffs.<\/p>\n

2. Sullivan v. Sleepy\u2019s LLC<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

State wage and hour law permits employers to pay inside salespeople on a commission-only basis, so long as the employer guarantees at least<\/em> the minimum wage for all regular hours worked. According to a decision from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Sullivan v. Sleepy\u2019s<\/em>, such commission-only arrangements are insufficient if the employees work more than forty hours in a given week.<\/p>\n

In Sullivan<\/em>, inside sales employees \u2013 paid on a commission-only basis \u2013 brought suit seeking additional pay for overtime worked ( i.e.<\/em>, each hour over forty hours in a given week). The employer pushed back, noting that each employee always earned weekly commissions equal to or greater than the minimum wage for each of the first forty-hours worked and<\/em>\u00a0one-and-a-half times the minimum wage for each hour over forty. The Court sided with the employees and rejected the employer\u2019s attempt to retroactively re-characterize earned commissions as overtime pay. The Court noted that the employer\u2019s position ran contrary to the purposes of the overtime statute \u2013 which includes encouraging the employment of more people, and the compensation of employees for the burden of a long workweek.<\/p>\n

3. Yee v. Mass State Police<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

Discrimination in the workplace can take many forms and present itself in countless ways. Many people mistakenly believe that discrimination is not actionable until the discrimination has had a financial impact. A 2019 Supreme Judicial Court decision clarified that this is not true under Massachusetts\u2019 anti-discrimination statute, Chapter 151B. In the case of Yee v. Massachusetts State Police<\/em>, the Court considered what constitutes an \u201cadverse employment action\u201d and reinforced that discrimination claims are about more than just money.<\/p>\n

4. DaPrato v. Massachusetts Water Resources Authority<\/em>:<\/a><\/p>\n

In DaPrato v. Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, the Supreme Judicial Court made clear that employers should not be substituting their own prejudices for the opinions of medical professionals, and that even an allegedly “honest mistake” as to whether an employee was abusing medical leave by spending it on vacation, did not shield the employer from liability for retaliatory discharge. While the Court did recognize that an employer may consider whether an employee’s activities are inconsistent with the medically documented reasons for the leave, the Court also observed that “an employee recovering from a leg injury may sit with his leg raised by the sea while fully complying with FMLA requirements…”<\/p>\n

5. Parris v. Sheriff of Suffolk Co.<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

In Parris v. Sheriff of Suffolk County<\/em>, a group of union employees filed suit in court under the Massachusetts Wage Act, G.L. c. 149 \u00a7 148, seeking unpaid wages. The employer argued that the lawsuit must be dismissed because, among other things, the claims had to be brought as a grievance under the collective bargaining agreement, which \u2013 conveniently for the employer \u2013 did not provide employees with Wage Act remedies like treble damages. The Appeals Court disagreed, ruling that it is \u201cbeyond the union\u2019s ability to bargain away\u201d an individual\u2019s right under the Wage Act to be \u201cpaid promptly the wages due to him or her.\u201d As the\u00a0Parris<\/em> decision makes clear, courts do not hesitate to strike down efforts \u2013 however creative \u2013 to avoid the Wage Act\u2019s strict requirements and penalties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we kick off the new decade, we’re wrapping up the top five cases and topics of importance to executives and professionals from 2019: 1. Calixto v. Coughlin: In Calixto v. Coughlin, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court determined that an employer\u2019s failure to provide \u201cnotice pay\u201d (compensation paid in lieu of notice) did not violate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe "Top Five Cases" We Watched in 2019 - Employment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/2020\/01\/03\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The "Top Five Cases" We Watched in 2019 - Employment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As we kick off the new decade, we’re wrapping up the top five cases and topics of importance to executives and professionals from 2019: 1. Calixto v. Coughlin: In Calixto v. Coughlin, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court determined that an employer\u2019s failure to provide \u201cnotice pay\u201d (compensation paid in lieu of notice) did not violate […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/2020\/01\/03\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Employment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-01-03T17:30:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-06-10T16:19:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/08\/40092597_l-1-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"5030\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"5030\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sherin and Lodgen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sherin and Lodgen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/03\\\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/03\\\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sherin and Lodgen\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/96bd34e7823afde2e3e7e561023c5a44\"},\"headline\":\"The “Top Five Cases” We Watched in 2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-03T17:30:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-06-10T16:19:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/03\\\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":661,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/03\\\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/08\\\/40092597_l-1-1.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/03\\\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/03\\\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\\\/\",\"name\":\"The \\\"Top Five Cases\\\" We Watched in 2019 - Employment\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/03\\\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/03\\\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/08\\\/40092597_l-1-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-03T17:30:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-06-10T16:19:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/96bd34e7823afde2e3e7e561023c5a44\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/03\\\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/03\\\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/03\\\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/08\\\/40092597_l-1-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/08\\\/40092597_l-1-1.jpg\",\"width\":5030,\"height\":5030,\"caption\":\"A blue circle with binoculars on a black background.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/03\\\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The “Top Five Cases” We Watched in 2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Employment\",\"description\":\"Employment Law News from Sherin and Lodgen\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/96bd34e7823afde2e3e7e561023c5a44\",\"name\":\"Sherin and Lodgen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d98a5f87b44b7c14488b62c802e175aba108d19bda0d855a9f1cc4924948f5fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d98a5f87b44b7c14488b62c802e175aba108d19bda0d855a9f1cc4924948f5fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d98a5f87b44b7c14488b62c802e175aba108d19bda0d855a9f1cc4924948f5fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sherin and Lodgen\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sherin.com\\\/employment-blog\\\/author\\\/sherinlodgen\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The \"Top Five Cases\" We Watched in 2019 - Employment","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/2020\/01\/03\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The \"Top Five Cases\" We Watched in 2019 - Employment","og_description":"As we kick off the new decade, we’re wrapping up the top five cases and topics of importance to executives and professionals from 2019: 1. Calixto v. Coughlin: In Calixto v. Coughlin, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court determined that an employer\u2019s failure to provide \u201cnotice pay\u201d (compensation paid in lieu of notice) did not violate […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/2020\/01\/03\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\/","og_site_name":"Employment","article_published_time":"2020-01-03T17:30:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-06-10T16:19:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":5030,"height":5030,"url":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/08\/40092597_l-1-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sherin and Lodgen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sherin and Lodgen","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/2020\/01\/03\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/2020\/01\/03\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\/"},"author":{"name":"Sherin and Lodgen","@id":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/96bd34e7823afde2e3e7e561023c5a44"},"headline":"The “Top Five Cases” We Watched in 2019","datePublished":"2020-01-03T17:30:02+00:00","dateModified":"2021-06-10T16:19:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/2020\/01\/03\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\/"},"wordCount":661,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/2020\/01\/03\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/08\/40092597_l-1-1.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/2020\/01\/03\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\/","url":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/2020\/01\/03\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\/","name":"The \"Top Five Cases\" We Watched in 2019 - Employment","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/2020\/01\/03\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/2020\/01\/03\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/08\/40092597_l-1-1.jpg","datePublished":"2020-01-03T17:30:02+00:00","dateModified":"2021-06-10T16:19:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/96bd34e7823afde2e3e7e561023c5a44"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/2020\/01\/03\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/2020\/01\/03\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/2020\/01\/03\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/08\/40092597_l-1-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/08\/40092597_l-1-1.jpg","width":5030,"height":5030,"caption":"A blue circle with binoculars on a black background."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/2020\/01\/03\/the-top-five-cases-we-watched-in-2019\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The “Top Five Cases” We Watched in 2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/","name":"Employment","description":"Employment Law News from Sherin and Lodgen","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/96bd34e7823afde2e3e7e561023c5a44","name":"Sherin and Lodgen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d98a5f87b44b7c14488b62c802e175aba108d19bda0d855a9f1cc4924948f5fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d98a5f87b44b7c14488b62c802e175aba108d19bda0d855a9f1cc4924948f5fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d98a5f87b44b7c14488b62c802e175aba108d19bda0d855a9f1cc4924948f5fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sherin and Lodgen"},"url":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/author\/sherinlodgen\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}