Beth Reuter was terminated from her employment with the City of Methuen (the “City”). On her termination date, the City failed to pay Ms. Reuter for her accrued, unused vacation time, as required by M. G. L. c. 149, § 148 (the Massachusetts Wage Act). Instead, the City waited three weeks after her termination to make this payment. One year later, after receiving a demand from Ms. Reuter’s attorney, the City paid a further small sum, representing treble the amount of interest that had accrued on the unpaid vacation time between her termination date and the date of payment for the accrued, unused vacation.

Plaintiff brought suit for violations of the Wage Act, claiming she was entitled to treble the amount of the accrued vacation time the City had failed to pay on her last day of work. Following a trial, the Superior Court held that the City had violated the Wage Act but concluded that treble damages were only due and owing on interest accrued during the three weeks the vacation time remained unpaid.^[1] The trial court also found that Plaintiff was entitled to attorney’s fees totaling $75,695.76. The parties cross-appealed.

Analysis

The Wage Act requires that a terminated employee’s wages “shall be paid in full on the day of his discharge.” See Gen. L. c. 149, § 148. “Wages” include holiday or vacation payments due to an employee under an oral or written agreement. The Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) concurred with the lower court that the City’s failure to pay Ms. Reuter...

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