On November 19, 2018, the Massachusetts Superior Court for Suffolk County approved a settlement of a class action we brought against a Massachusetts home care agency. We were appointed as counsel for a settlement class of approximately 1,200 home health…
Author: Nicholas F. Ortiz
Massachusetts attorney, wage and overtime.
Overtime Rights for Hotel Workers
by • • Comments Off on Overtime Rights for Hotel Workers
Under Massachusetts law, individuals employed “in a hotel, motel, motor court or like establishment” are exempt from overtime, meaning that no matter what the worker does and no matter how many hours they work, they are not entitled to overtime…
Commissions and Profit Sharing
by • • Comments Off on Commissions and Profit Sharing
The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently decided the Wage Act commissions case, Ellicott v. American Capital Energy, Inc., No. 17-1421 (1st Cir. 2018). This case is interesting for a few reasons, but I’ll address two here.…
Massachusetts Attorney General Wage Act Advisories
by • • Comments Off on Massachusetts Attorney General Wage Act Advisories
The Massachusetts Attorney General’s new website doesn’t seem to link to the office’s past Wage Act advisories. These advisories have been cited multiple times by the SJC and are entitled to “substantial deference, at least where it is not inconsistent…
Wage Act Uniform Deduction Class Action Certified versus Trinity EMS
by • • Comments Off on Wage Act Uniform Deduction Class Action Certified versus Trinity EMS
Yesterday, November 2, 2017, the Middlesex Superior Court certified our class action against Trinity EMS, based in Lowell, Massachusetts. In the case, we contend that, among other things, Trinity EMS unlawfully deducted charges for required uniforms from employee wages in violation…
Startup Companies and Unpaid Wages
by • • Comments Off on Startup Companies and Unpaid Wages
Massachusetts is a good place to start a business, as it is home to many highly educated and entrepreneurial people who are able to team up with similar folks here to start successful businesses. While many of these businesses succeed,…
Unpaid Training: CVS Pharmacy Case
by • • Comments Off on Unpaid Training: CVS Pharmacy Case
Generally, employers cannot require that employees participate in job training without pay. CVS recently learned this lesson in the case of St. Pierre, et al. v. CVS Pharmacy, Inc., et al., Civil Action No. 13-13202-TSH (D. Mass. Sept. 18, 2017) (Hillman, J.).…
Wage Class Action Certified in Massachusetts Superior Court
by • • Comments Off on Wage Class Action Certified in Massachusetts Superior Court
On September 13, 2017, the Massachusetts Superior Court for Suffolk County certified a class action against Helping Hands Company, Inc., a provider of home care services in Massachusetts. Escorbor v. Helping Hands Co., Inc, C.A. No. 15-2053-D. (Suffolk Sup. Crt. 2017)…
Case Report: Mickevich v Fine Finish, Inc.
by • • Comments Off on Case Report: Mickevich v Fine Finish, Inc.
Yesterday, the Massachusetts Superior Court for Middlesex County issued a final approval order in one of our wage and hour class actions. This was a small class action under the Massachusetts Overtime Law involving just 33 individuals. The key allegation in…
Retail Sunday Pay and Massachusetts Wage Act
by • • Comments Off on Retail Sunday Pay and Massachusetts Wage Act
Massachusetts retailers must pay employees who work on Sunday “one and one-half times the employee’s regular rate.” M.G.L. c. 136, § 6(50). However, traditionally, this law could only be enforced by the Attorney General: Individual employees and groups of employees could…