Your Employee Has Requested an Accommodation. Now What?

Yesterday, Flo came to our management team requesting a workplace accommodation for a recently diagnosed illness she is suffering from. Let’s walk through whether she is covered under any employment laws and if so what we should consider when deciding whether we can accommodate her request.

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Steffans Legal Files Class Action Against MetLife Alleging Wage-and-Hour Violations

In a class action filed in Berkshire County Superior Court we’ve alleged that MetLife, Inc. violated Massachusetts wage and hour laws in five separate respects: (1) failure to pay minimum wage, (2) failure to pay overtime, (3) failure to reimburse business related expenses, (4) unlawful payroll deductions, and (5) failure to reimburse travel expenses.

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Steffans Legal Files Class Action on Behalf of Delivery Drivers Against Papa Ginos, Inc.

Steffans Legal filed a statewide class action in Berkshire County Superior Court against Papa Gino’s, Inc. We’ve brought this claim on behalf of all delivery drivers who worked at a Papa Gino’s location in Massachusetts.

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Supreme Judicial Court Holds that Certain Commission Salespersons Must be Paid Overtime and Sunday Premiums Regardless of Their Commission

On May 8, 2019, in the case of Sullivan v. Sleepy’s LLC, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court injected some much needed clarity into whether commission-based employees must be paid overtime and premium pay regardless of the amount of their commission.

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Supreme Judicial Court Splits the Baby in Class Action Wage Claim -- Ruling in Part for Employees and in Part for Employers

On April 12, 2019, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, in Gamella v. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Inc., resolved lingering doubt as to whether state and federal courts would use the same analysis when determining whether to allow wage claims to proceed on a class action basis.

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Massachusetts Federal Court Issues Decision that Heavily Protects Massachusetts Disabled Employees

The Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as its Massachusetts state law equivalent, prohibit employers from discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Those laws, unlike other anti-discrimination laws, also require employers to provide disabled employees with reasonable accommodations so that they may perform their job duties.

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Massachusetts Gives Another Nod to All Massachusetts Employees in Wage-and-Hour Context (But Especially Agricultural Employees)

For as long as I’ve practiced law, courts across the country, both state and federal, have uniformly held that wage-and-hour laws should be construed broadly to protect employees and that exemptions from those laws should be construed narrowly to protect employees.

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