Where a putative class of franchisees who have been classified as independent contractors rather than employees brought suit for violations of Massachusetts wage laws, a question should be certified to the commonwealth’s Supreme Judicial Court regarding the meaning of “performing any service” as that phrase is used in G.L.c. 149, §148B(a).
“Plaintiffs, who collectively comprise a putative class of franchisees, have been classified as independent contractors of their franchisor, Defendant 7-Eleven, Inc. (‘7- Eleven’). Wishing instead to be classified as employees, Plaintiffs sued 7-Eleven for violations of Massachusetts wage laws.
“For the second time now, this case presents a novel question of Massachusetts law. To be specific, resolving the present appeal will require us to consider what is meant, in the context of a franchise arrangement, by ‘performing any service’ as that phrase is used in the Massachusetts Independent Contractor Law (‘ICL’), Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 149, §148B(a) — an issue which the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (‘SJC’) has not squarely addressed. …
“In light of the forgoing, we certify the following question to the Massachusetts SJC: ‘(1) Do Plaintiffs “perform[] any service” for 7-Eleven, within the meaning of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 149, §148B, where, as here, they perform various contractual obligations under the Franchise Agreement and 7-Eleven receives a percentage of the franchise’s gross profits?’ We would welcome any further guidance from the...
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Israeli media have published false claims regarding a possible understanding between Iran and the US. An Israeli media outlet, i24NEWS, claimed that “American officials say Ira...