Press & News

Richard Alfred Quoted in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly "Big Business Whacked by New Massachusetts Wage Act Provision"
04/25/2008

Richard Alfred was quoted in the article, "Big Business Whacked by New Massachusetts Wage Act Provision," published in the April 21, 2008 issue of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. The article reports on Massachusetts Bill S. 1059 becoming law, which mandates triple damages for employees who prevail in wage-and-hour lawsuits.

Richard observed, "Once this law becomes effective [on July 13], the potential for damages in Massachusetts is greater than in any other state…This statute is going to do enormous harm to the Massachusetts economy. There's no question it has caused an uproar in the business community." He further noted that because the federal courts and all other states allow an employer to assert a good-faith defense to a Wage Act damage claim, Massachusetts will likely become the most sought-after jurisdiction in the country for class-action plaintiffs to bring such a case.

Richard remarked that his clients are angered by the new law and contemplating whether Massachusetts is the right place for them to operate a business. He noted, "I have class-action cases where the damages are deep into the eight and nine figures, potentially… and now you're talking about a new law that provides no flexibility for an employer who acts in complete good faith. It's really a troubling proposition to think that [an employer] who seeks an opinion from a lawyer or the Department of Labor—that a jury at some point down the road happens to disagree with—would automatically be hit with triple damages."

Rather than subject themselves to such a penalty, Richard noted that many employers instead will ask: "Why shouldn't we move to southern New Hampshire or North Carolina or some other state where we don't face these types of Draconian penalties?"