On April 4, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) held, in Reuter v. City of Methuen, that the Massachusetts Wage Act, G.L. c. 149, § 148, requires courts to award triple damages to successful plaintiffs paid their wages late—even if their employer paid them in full and regardless of whether the wages were paid one day or one year after they were owed.
Under the Wage Act, employers must pay employees involuntarily separated any earned, unpaid wages on the final day of their employment (employees who voluntarily separate employment must be paid by the next payroll date). The dispute in Reuter centered on the proper measure of damages for a Wage Act violation when the employer paid wages after the statutory deadline but before the employee filed a complaint. Under those facts, the SJC concluded the employer owed treble damages, even though the employer paid the wages in full several weeks after the plaintiff’s termination.
Plaintiff, a custodian for the city of Methuen’s school department, was convicted of larceny and terminated from her job. On the day of her termination, the city owed plaintiff for accrued vacation, which was paid three weeks later. Under the Wage Act, wages include any vacation payments due an employee under a written or oral agreement. In response to plaintiff’s demand for a trebling of the late wages and attorney’s fees, the city paid trebled interest for the three-week delay. Until the SJC’s decision,...
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