Employers take note: the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) ruled this week for an employee seeking treble damages for untimely paid wages under the Massachusetts Wage Act (“Wage Act”), even though the employer had corrected its mistake and paid the wages before the employee filed suit. Writing for the majority in Reuter v. City of Methuen, Chief Justice Scott L. Kafker interpreted the “strict time-defined payment policies” and liquidated damages provisions under the Wage Act to find that the employer was responsible for treble the amount of late wages, and not treble the amount of interest, even though the wages were ultimately paid before the complaint was filed. This underscores the importance of paying all wages, including vacation or PTO in a timely fashion.
Beth Reuter worked for the city of Methuen as a custodian for the city’s school department starting in 1988. On March 7, 2013, the city terminated Reuter’s employment for cause. At the time, the city owed Reuter $8,952.15 for accrued vacation time but did not pay her this amount until three weeks later.
On March 11, 2014, Reuter’s counsel sent the city a demand letter for $23,872.40, which represented a trebling of the late vacation pay, plus $5,986.10 for attorney’s fees, minus setoff for the late payment. The city responded to the demand letter with an “unconditional check” for $185.42, which represented a trebling of the twelve percent annual interest on Reuter’s vacation pay accrued...
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