Massachusetts High Court Curtails Respondents' Jury Trial Rights for Chapter 151B Claims

Earlier today, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) rejected employers’ and other respondents’ requests for the same right as complainants to determine when or whether employment discrimination claims will be heard by a jury. This decision, Stonehill College v. Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, was entered over a strenuous dissent by Justice Cowin, and with a concurring opinion by Justice Sosman that in any ways reads like a dissent.