The theory of "cat's paw" liability in employment claims has existed in some form for many years. A recent Supreme Court decision on such claims gives employees and their attorneys new guidance in formulating such claims. Employers who have to defend such claims have a new set of challenges.  [Contact Author]
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A number of lower federal courts over the years have adopted the view of the US Department of Labor that, under ERISA, statements appearing in a summary plan description (SPD) that describe benefits more generous than those actually provided under the formal plan document are nevertheless binding on the company sponsor of the program. The US Supreme Court surprised many by its recent ruling in CIGNA Corp. v. Amara that statements appearing in SPD’s and other employee communications cannot override the written terms of employee benefit plan.  [Contact Author]
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For years, confusion has surrounded the anti-retaliation provisions of the Massachusetts Fair Employment Practices Act, which prevent employers from retaliating against employees for testifying, assisting, or filing a complaint in a lawsuit for damages resulting from discriminatory conduct on the basis of race, color, religious creed, national origin, sex, and sexual orientation. While it is clear that employees can sue their employers for conduct that occurs during the employment relationship, until recently it was unclear whether an ex-employee could sue his or her previous employer for retaliatory actions taken after the employment relationship ends under state law.  [Contact Authors]
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It started with Application Service Providers - businesses turning over a small portion of their computing needs to third parties to handle. As that practice became more common, we dubbed it Software as a Service. But now, the sky's the limit - or rather, the "cloud's" the limit - as businesses have begun turning over all of their computing needs to third parties. In this brave new world of so-called "cloud computing," is the forecast for sunny days ahead or scattered showers with a chance of rain?  [Contact Author]
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Recent changes to the Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contract Program highlights just one example of a number of benefits available to qualifying women-owned businesses. Both New Hampshire and Massachusetts also have programs designed to allocate certain percentages of monies to qualifying women-owned entities. Overall, qualifying and certifying as a women-owned business may create a number of opportunities for your company. This article addresses how an entity qualifies and gets certified as a women-owned business under the WOSB Federal Contract Program.  [Contact Author]
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The first question usually posed by companies interested in crafting information retention/destruction policies is “How long should we keep this stuff?” There is, however, a more fundamental question that must be answered first and that is “Should we keep all this stuff?” Most companies have already determined that it is wise to discard or delete information and they want to create a policy memorializing and standardizing that practice. Companies should step back, however, and perform the following self-analysis first before focusing on what information to discard and when to discard it.  [Contact Author]
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