LAW OFFICE of JAMES BUDREAU

While employment law encompasses legal issues such as wrongful termination, whistleblower terminations, illegal non-compete clauses, pretextual terminations to avoid benefit payouts (i.e., stock options), the following overview is limited to discrimination claims in the work place. If you need further information on this topic or if you need information about any other illegal employment practice, please contact Mr. Budreau directly to discuss possible representation and consultation fees.

There are a number of issues which you should be aware of if you believe that your employer or you employees are engaging in discriminatory practices based upon your race, creed, color, national origin, legal alienage, sex pregnancy, age, disability or union activity:

Massachusetts and federal prohibit employers from discriminating against employees. This means that an employee cannot be treated differently than other similarly situated employees simply because of their race, gender, disability, pregnancy,national origin or sexual preference (protected classes). The mere fact that an employer takes an adverse action against an employee who falls into one of these protected classes is not enough to show discrimination. The employee must demonstrate that the employer had a discriminatory motive in acting as it did or that the alleged legitimate business reason for the action is probably pretext or a coverup for the discriminatory behavior.

An employer cannot have policies that adversely effect employees who are exclusively in these protected classes unless there is a legitimate business reason. One example of a legitimate policy that appears discriminatory would be if an employer requires employees to speak only English in front of customers, assuming that the policy is in writing and universally applied. An example of an illegitimate policy would be if an employer prohibits women from performing certain types of jobs based upon an unnecessary job requirement such as weight or strength. If, however, the requirements are necessary to the employer's business and is related to that particular employee's performance or function in the company, then the policy might very well be permissible.

Other

Contract Claims

Hostile work environments and quid pro quo harassment are common forms of actionable misconduct in the work force. While many people feel harassed by employers, such conduct does not rise to the level of discrimination unless the harasser is motivated by the fact that the victim belongs to a protected class of people (i.e., gender, race, disabled, etc.). The fact that an employer treats you poorly or even yells at one particular employee more than the others does not constitute the type of hostile work environment that is actionable under the discrimination laws. The harassment must be related to and motivated by the fact that the victim belongs to a protected class (i.e., race, gender, sexual orientation, pregnancy, disability, etc.) The fact that your employer is abusive or fires you for no reason does not constitute an actionable claim by itself.

In addition to discrimination, there are other more tradition forms of employer misconduct which we handle. These include include failure to fulfill promised compensation packages, illegal or overly restrictive contract provisions (i.e., non-competition clauses), stock option breaches, employment contract violations and bad faith terminations. These types of claims may require filing directly in state or federal court where statues of limitations (any where from one to six years depending upon the type of claim) apply depending upon the state or court (federal or state). They may also involve injunction relief or other forms of aggressive legal approaches such as declaratory judgments.

The employer is per se liable for the conduct of its supervisory staff in state court and before MCAD. If the discrimination arises out of conduct by a peer employee, then the plaintiff has the burden of demonstrating that the employer failed to engage in reasonable and swift corrective action. Types of damages which flow from employment discrimination include:

• back pay and lost wages/benefits
• future pay if you have been illegally terminated and circumstances make it impossible for you to cure the loss (i.e., failure to obtain other employment may set off losses)
• emotional distress awards
• punitive damage awards only in Court (generally for intentional discrimination or conduct which a jury decides can only be deterred by an award of monetary damages)

These are only some of the legal issues that you are facing as an employee. Call the Law Office of James Budreau at (617)227-8558 and ask about representation and consultation fees.