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Pizza Delivery Drivers May Proceed With Wage Class Action

A Massachusetts federal court judge recently ruled that a group of pizza delivery drivers for a Domino’s pizza franchise may proceed with two of their class action claims (1) withholding service fees and charges that were given and designated as “delivery charges,” and (2) not paying drivers properly for doing work inside stores, such as folding pizza boxes.

This pizza franchise owner was advertising “delivery charges” yet withholding almost half those charges from the delivery drivers. In addition, the employer was asking delivery drivers to perform non-delivery work that co-workers, who do receive a minimum wage, perform – such as folding pizza boxes. The drivers may now proceed as a group to challenge the pizza franchise’s practice of charging customers for the delivery without remitting that entire charge to drivers and not paying minimum wage for non-tipped inside work.

If you are a food service delivery driver and believe your employer is not paying you properly for delivery charges or inside work, please contact the experienced attorneys of MA Employment Lawyers, for a free consultation.

Obesity a Disease

MLL has extensive experience representing employees with disabilities who have been discriminated against because of those disabilities.  In doing so, MLL has learned that the law generally does not recognize obesity as a protected disability.  All that may soon change, in large part due to the American Medical Association’s decision, released in June 2013, that obesity is to be considered a disease.  If courts pick up on this trend, employees who suffer from a workplace filled with jokes about their weight may be able to successfully sue under State and Federal laws protecting disabled individuals.  MLL monitors updates like this on a day-to-day basis. Doing so allows MLL to effectively represent their clients and achieve maximize results.  For more information, contact the experienced attorneys of MA Employment Lawyers today. (Tags:  Harassment, Discrimination)

Weakening the Wage Act to Help Employees:

On August 12, 2013, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court weakened the Wage Act by holding that it does displace common-law claims for unpaid wages.  In doing so, the SJC rejected a favorite argument of employers that prevented employees from recovering lost wages earned over three years ago.  MLL has already begun to implement this important case into its arsenal and has successfully used it to argue for damages that were previously lost to its employee clients.  With MLL as your lawyers, you will have a team that knows the law and knows how to use it. For more information, contact the trusted legal team of MA Employment Lawyers today. (Tags: Wage Violations)

Your Boss Said What?

Your co-workers’ and supervisors’ comments can provide the most powerful evidence in support of your discrimination claim. Just recently, an employer was found to have engaged in impermissible age discrimination in part because a supervisor described a termination as providing an opportunity to “bring the next generation in” and that the company had a plan to “bring in younger people” to take the place of the “older people” when they leave.  These types of comments alone can support a discrimination claim.  If you’ve suffered comments like these, call us today for a free consolation. For more information, contact the trusted legal team of MA Employment Lawyers today. (Tags:  Harassment, Discrimination)

Massachusetts Wage Act Strengthened

Recently, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court strengthen the Wage Act’s teeth by holding that manages of LLCs can be personally liable for violations of the Wage Act committed by the LLC.  MLL is well aware of how to turn up the heat on wage claims and has begun to utilize this important case to make employers pay for their mistakes.  In doing so, MLL is going after not only the employer who made the mistake, but the individual supervisor who made the mistaken decision. For more information, contact the skilled legal team of MA Employment Lawyers today.

Associational Discrimination Recognized in Massachusetts

Oftentimes employers discriminate against employees because of the company they keep.  On July 19, 2013 the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court emphatically held that employers who discriminate against their employees because those employees have a relationship with someone who is disabled have violated Massachusetts law.  For now, this case appears to be limited to the immediate family context (e.g., husband-wife relationships) but will likely be expanded further as time goes by. MLL sees this most frequently when employers terminate an employee because that employee’s loved one suffers from an expensive or time-consuming disability.  MLL fought for these types of employees long before this case appeared, but will do so now knowing that it has this recent case in its arsenal. For more information, contact the skilled legal team of MA Employment Lawyers today. (Tags:  Discrimination)

Complaints Come in All Shapes and Sizes

Numerous state and federal laws protect employees from retaliation for complaining about illegal conduct. Oftentimes, these “complaints” are easy to spot.  Sometimes, they aren’t.  Recently, a court in Tennessee held that calling the employer racist and telling an African-American co-worker that he will never be promoted can qualify as “complaining.”  In doing so, this court recognized that not all complaints look the same, but that they all provide some sort of protection for the complaining employee.  If you have been disciplined because you expressed concern over workplace behavior or policies, call MLL today. For more information, contact the skilled legal team of MA Employment Lawyers today. ( Tags: Retaliation)