Massachusetts is regularly listed among — if not at the top of — the rankings for best state economies in the country. To many, Massachusetts strikes the right balance in supporting both employer dynamism and employee rights.
According to the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, “a quasi-public economic development agency,” about 40 percent of the jobs in the state are in the constantly evolving fields of science, health care and technology.
Yet employment law can change just as rapidly. In fact, businesses with operations or employees in Massachusetts should be aware of three recent court decisions involving new applications of existing law.
The law is still catching up to the proliferation of remote work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. More specifically, it is not always clear which state’s laws apply to individuals working from a state different than that of their employer’s office.
Superior Court Judge Peter Krupp (located in the John Adams Courthouse) wrestled with that issue in a decision in April.
The case was brought by Abigail Dubois, a former sales associate for Staples, the Massachusetts-based office supply company. From August 2020 through the end of 2022, Dubois worked exclusively out of her Rhode Island home covering a sales territory spanning New York and New Jersey. During that time, she contributed to a large sale for which she believed she was owed, and improperly denied, commissions.
In early 2023,...
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