After a summary process trial before him (without a jury), a Superior Court judge recently held that a commercial landlord could not evict a tenant despite proving the tenant had repeatedly breached provisions in the lease because the breaches were not material. While the facts in making this decision were unique and specific to this […]
Blog
by Robert Rudolph Massachusetts Minimum Wage Effective January 1, 2020, the Massachusetts Minimum Wage will increase from $12.00 per hour to $12.75 per hour. The Massachusetts Minimum Wage will continue to increase in yearly increments until it reaches $15.00 per hour on January 1, 2023. In Massachusetts, all workers are presumed to be employees, and […]
by Robert P. Rudolph On November 8, 2018 the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued Opinion Letter FLSA 2018-27, which rolls back the Obama-era’s enforcement of what is commonly referred to as the “80/20 Rule.” Many states allow an employer to pay a lower tipped rate to tipped service employees, such as waiters and bussers. For […]
by Robert P. Rudolph Where the plaintiff employee in Yarph v. Bowden Hospitality Newton LLC, et al. sought to add both the limited liability company that gave a hotel owner a license to do business and the LLC’s parent company to a lawsuit claiming that the hotel violated the Massachusetts Tips Act, the Business Litigation […]
by Robert P. Rudolph After a Massachusetts Superior Court jury returned a verdict in favor of the estate of a deceased sports pub patron in a wrongful death suit, the Appeals Court affirmed the judgment in favor of the estate and agreed that it was a question for the Court (not a question of fact […]
A recent decision by the First Circuit will have vast ramifications for all restaurant owners in Massachusetts. In Matamoros v. Starbucks Corp., 2012 WL 5458443 (1st Cir. 2012), the Court held that shift supervisors (at Starbucks) did not qualify as “wait staff” eligible to participate in tips pools under provisions of Massachusetts Tip Act, M.G.L. […]
