On December 17, 2021, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) held that a termination of employment based only upon an employee's rebuttal to a negative performance review in the employee's personnel file violates the public policy exception to at-will employment. In so holding, the SJC reversed confusing lower court decisions and added teeth to the notoriously strict Massachusetts Personnel Records Law.

The Massachusetts Personnel Records Law

The Massachusetts Personnel Records Law (G.L. c. 149, § 52C) is one of the most expansive in the US, imposing affirmative obligations on employers and equipping employees with certain rights. Specifically, the statute:

• Gives employees the right to inspect their personnel file.
• Requires employers to notify employees of any negative information placed in their file if such information may be used to negatively affect the terms of the employee's employment.
• Gives employees the right to rebut any negative information in their personnel file.

The state attorney general may impose fines between $500 and $2,500 for violation of the statute.

At-will employment

In Massachusetts, at-will employment can generally be terminated for any reason or no reason at all. Courts in the commonwealth have long recognized narrow exceptions to at-will employment when employment is terminated in violation of public policy, including, for example, when an employee asserts a legally guaranteed right.

Meehan v. Medical Information Technology

In Terence...

Read Full Story: https://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/employee-rights-labour-relations/1145256/...