Wrongful Termination in Massachusetts
In the state of Massachusetts, employment is assumed to be at-will unless otherwise stated. At-will employment implies that employer and employee alike may terminate the work relationship at any given moment and for any legitimate purpose. Wrongful termination may be more difficult to prove in an at-will arrangement because of the freedom that each party has to end the employment.
However, there are still many instances wherein a termination or discharge can be called wrongful, even in an at-will employment. Some of these exceptions to at-will termination that are recognized in Massachusetts include:
- Termination resulting from a violation of a statute, such as discrimination or harassment
- Termination that violates the terms of a written or an implied employment contract
- Termination that occurs simply to prevent the employee from receiving benefits, bonuses, commissions, or disability payments
- Termination that violates public policy (such as firing a worker who has reported illegal conduct committed by the company)
- Termination which punishes employees who join other workers in efforts to improve working conditions or to receive higher wages
Depending on the cause of the wrongful termination, an employee in Massachusetts may be eligible for various types of recovery. Remedies for wrongful discharge or termination can involve: reinstatement of employment, back and/or forward pay, punitive damages, and distress damages.
In addition, claims for wrongful termination can also involve many overlapping legal claims within the same lawsuit. Some other types of legal issues that are frequently connected to wrongful termination may include: breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress (especially in harassment situations), invasion of privacy (communicating private information to unauthorized parties), and harm to business reputation.
An experienced employment attorney can help you understand how different areas of Massachusetts laws interact with one another.
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Last Modified: 06-09-2011 02:50 PM PDT
