Massachusetts Appellate Court Holds That Sovereign Immunity Bars Wage Claims by Court and Probation Officers

Are Massachusetts State Employees Covered by the Protections of the Massachusetts Wage Act?

We’ve written time and time again about state and federal wage-and-hour laws, including that the Massachusetts Wage Act requires payment of triple damages, attorneys’ fees, interest, and costs for violations. People work hard for their money and they should be paid accordingly. Employers who fail to pay should be punished. Seems obvious, right? Well, not so much if you are a state employee.

In 2018, William Donahue filed a class action against the trial court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. §201), the Massachusetts Wage Act (M.G.L. ch. 149 §§ 148, 150), and the Massachusetts Overtime Act (M.G.L. ch. 151 §1A). In the suit, Donahue challenged the State’s practice of giving employees comp time in lieu of paying them overtime premiums for overtime work. A Superior Court judge dismissed the complaint as barred by sovereign immunity. Donahue appealed.

On February 5, 2021, the Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed the Superior Court’s dismissal, holding that state employees are not entitled to the protections of state and federal wage-and-hour laws due to its sovereign immunity. In doing so, the Court explained that sovereign immunity serves an important public interest in that it "protects the public treasury against money judgments and public administration from interference by the courts at the behest of litigants except in instances and by procedures the Legislature has authorized."

In dismissing the FLSA claims, the Court relied upon strong precedent establishing that sovereign immunity prevents a private party from suing a state under that law unless that state has waived the immunity or otherwise consented to being sued. Alden v. Maine, 527 U.S. 706, 754 (1999); Bergemann v. Rhode Island Dep’t of Envtl. Mgt., 665 F.3d 336, 342 (1st Cir. 2011).

As to the Massachusetts state law, the Court acknowledged that the Massachusetts Wage Act does expressly apply to the Commonwealth and its instrumentalities but only for the following limited set of employees: mechanics, workmen, laborers, and people employed in a penal or charitable institution. M.G.L. ch. 149 §148. The Court held that court and probation officers did not fall into one of those limited categories. Thus, they were not entitled to the protections of the Massachusetts Wage Act.

Lastly, the Court held that state employees are not entitled to the protection of the Massachusetts Overtime Act. Instead, the Commonwealth’s obligation to pay overtime is governed by M.G.L. ch. 149 §30B, which, oddly enough, does not have a private right of action.

Takeaway: everyone gets paid for a honest day’s work, unless you work for the state.