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 […]
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UMNV 205-207 Newbury, LLC (referred to as “UMNV”) leased its Newbury Street location to Caffe Nero Americas, Inc. (referred to as “Caffé Nero”) for a 15-year term starting June 1, 2017. The lease stipulated that Caffé Nero was to use the leased premises “solely for the operation of a Caffé Nero themed café under Tenant’s […]
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 Adam Shafran Class action wage and hour and other similar employment class action lawsuits are more prevalent than ever, particularly in Massachusetts, which has some of the strongest pro-employee laws in the country. A decision from the Massachusetts Business Litigation Session demonstrates that employers faced with a class action lawsuit must be careful how […]
by James L. Rudolph and 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 […]
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 […]
The landlord in this recent Massachusetts Appeals Court case owns a commercial condominium unit in a mixed-use condominium complex with mostly residential units. The condominium’s parking areas contain a total of 91 parking spaces, some exclusive (i.e., assigned to a particular unit), but most (66 spaces) are non-exclusive common areas (i.e., available to visitors, owners, […]
Adam Shafran and Robert Rudolph presented an employment webinar “Do This, Not That: Navigating Complex Legal Employment Issues in the Food and Beverage Industry” for the Massachusetts Restaurant Association (MRA) on February 15. Details about the webinar are below. If you were unable to attend, you can download the recorded webinar.
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 […]
