By Erica E. Flores, Esq.
Here in Massachusetts, we’ve gotten pretty accustomed to being known as a liberal bastion, a reliably blue populace governed by progressive icons like U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Gov. Maura Healey. Our laws reflect that ideology, including our many employment laws, which provide broad protections for workers on a wide array of topics, such as discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage payments, family and medical leave, sick time, and others.
Federal law has never been nearly as protective of workers — for sure, the abysmal federal minimum wage ($7.25 per hour) has not been increased since 2009. But, still, it never really felt at odds with liberal values — just more moderate. Since President Trump took office for the second time, however, federal employment law has been changing at a breakneck pace, and not just via the president’s ever-growing stack of executive orders, but in the federal agencies and the federal courts as well.
“Employers here should start thinking about where their policies, programs, and practices are situated in the growing divide between Massachusetts’ liberal employment laws and the Trump administration’s new policies.”
“How does this affect me or my business?” you may be asking yourself. And it’s a fair question. Massachusetts businesses have to abide by the more employee-friendly Massachusetts laws, so a conservative shift in how federal employment laws are interpreted or enforced doesn’t...
USCellular urged the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday to uphold a D.C. Circuit ruling that dismissed whistleblowers’ False Claims Act (FCA) claims alleging spectrum auction fraud, branding their reque...