SJC Strikes MCAD’s Emotional Distress Award

In a strongly-worded decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) rejected the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination’s (MCAD) $50,000 emotional distress award on a prevailing complainant’s retaliation claim. In DeRoche v. Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, the SJC determined that the employee failed to present sufficient evidence of emotional suffering, as well as a causal connection between his alleged emotional distress and his employer’s retaliation. The SJC applied its decision in Stonehill College v. Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, 441 Mass. 549 (2004), in which it held that in order to recover emotional distress damages on a discrimination or retaliation claim, a complainant must present substantial evidence of both the emotional suffering experienced and a causal connection between the emotional distress and the unlawful act.