The Meaning Behind the ‘Your Work’ Insurance Coverage Exclusion
By: Kenney & Sams, P.C.
In All America Insurance Company vs. Lampasona Concrete Corporation, the Massachusetts Appeals Court recently held that while the ‘your work’ exclusion to comprehensive general liability (CGL) insurance coverage precluded coverage for repairing the insured’s defective work performed on one flooring layer during a construction project, the exclusion did not preclude coverage for damages that the insured’s […]
Due Process Guarantees Apply to Firearms Regulations
By: Kenney & Sams, P.C.
Few public policy issues generate such polarized viewpoints as efforts to regulate firearms. Firearm owners through national organizations such as the NRA and locally through the Gun Owners’ Action League do not hesitate to express their views on gun regulation, while those favoring greater regulation have recently become more vocal and organized pursuing their goals. Regardless […]
Gender Identity And The Equal Pay Act
By: Kenney & Sams, P.C.
Effective June 30, 2018, the Massachusetts Legislature enacted the Equal Pay Act, which prohibits employers from paying an employee less than “employees of a different gender for comparable work.” This new law, replacing a 1945 statute rendered ineffectual by decades of judicial narrowing, reinvigorated a key tool in redressing and reversing the systemic underpayment in the […]
OSHA’s New Standard for Confined Spaces in Construction
By: Kenney & Sams, P.C.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has published standards governing Confined Spaces in Construction (29 C.F.R. 1926, Subpart AA) (“Confined Spaces Standards”), to provide added protections to employees performing work in confined spaces. Specifically, spaces (a) large enough for a worker to enter with (b) limited or restricted means of entry of exit and (c) […]
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act: What Every Employer Should Know
By: Kenney & Sams, P.C.
As the new year begins, it is an ideal time for employers to assess whether their policies and procedures are compliant with Massachusetts laws—including the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. It goes without saying that most companies will, at one point or another, have an employee who is pregnant or who experiences a condition related to pregnancy. […]
OSHA Standards Impermissibly Applied to Construction Employers are Held Invalid1
By: Kenney & Sams, P.C.
The United States Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Review Commission has ruled that the Secretary of Labor impermissibly applied certain OSHA standards to construction employers. On September 28, 2018, the Commission vacated an OSHA citation issued to Kiewit for allegedly violating the “quick-drenching” standard in 29 C.F.R. s 1926.50(g). The Commission held that the […]
Massachusetts Employer Not Allowed To Enforce Non-Compete Against Its California Employee
By: Kenney & Sams, P.C.
On September 7, 2018, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (“SJC”) issued a decision in Oxford Global Resources, LLC v. Hernandez, holding that a Massachusetts employer could not enforce a confidentiality, non-competition, and non-solicitation agreement against a former California employee. Despite the explicit language in the agreement that it was governed by Massachusetts law and that […]
Massachusetts’s New Non-Compete Law: An Overview
By: Kenney & Sams, P.C.
After years of fitful attempts, the Massachusetts Legislature finally passed a bill regulating non-compete agreements. Governor Baker signed the “Act relative to the judicial enforcement of noncompetition agreements” (MGL c. 149, §24L) on August 10, 2018, and it will take effect on October 1, 2018. The new law ushers in a new era in the enforcement […]
Time Is On Your Side: Six-Year Statue Of Repose Applies To Alleged Violations Of The Home Improvement Contractors Act
In Bridgwood v. A.J. Wood Construction Inc., the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently ruled that consumers are limited to six years to sue contractors for defective construction work over unfair business practices under the home improvement contractor and consumer protection laws.
Importantly, the SJC also held that the statute of repose applies to G.L.c.93A, the […]
Massachusetts Public Bidding Laws: What Contractors Need to Know Before & After They Bid
By: Kenney & Sams, P.C.
Massachusetts statutory laws govern the process for bidding on a public construction project, commonly referred to as the “Bid Laws” or “public bidding laws”. These laws were enacted to make the public bidding process objective by requiring awarding public jobs to the lowest eligible bidder. The purpose is to have public projects completed at the lowest […]