Employees who assert wage claims available only under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) cannot recover the greater remedies available under the Massachusetts Wage Act (MWA), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has held. Devaney v. Zucchini Gold, LLC, 2022 Mass. LEXIS 156 (Mass. Apr. 14, 2022).
In so ruling, the high court rejected the conclusion of several lower court decisions that had allowed such state law remedies for violations of the FLSA.
Although the MWA mirrors the FLSA in many respects, they are not identical. Under the FLSA, either a two- or three-year statute of limitations applies, depending on whether the claimant can demonstrate that the employer acted “willfully.” In addition, a prevailing plaintiff is entitled to costs, attorney’s fees, and potential liquidated damages equal to the amount of lost wages (i.e., double damages). However, under Massachusetts state law, all claims are subject to a three-year limitations period and, in addition to attorney’s fees and costs, violations are subject to mandatory triple damages.
Another difference is the types of exemptions from the respective laws’ overtime requirements. For example, all employees who work in a restaurant, hotel, hospital, or gasoline station are exempt from the overtime requirements of Massachusetts law, whereas these exemptions do not exist under the FLSA.
Plaintiff Rutchada Devaney was an employee at the Rice...
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