Court Decisions

An Ipswich man who owned and operated numerous Massachusetts businesses has been sentenced for manipulating his payroll to evade over $1.8 million in taxes, according to a press release from the US Attorney’s Office of Massachusetts and the Department of Justice. George Vasiliades, 58, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs to […]

In Modeski v. Summit Retail Solutions, Inc., a divided panel of the First Circuit has decided that a group of “brand representatives” who were employed by a marketing company to pitch particular products in client retail stores fell within the scope of 29 U.S.C. §213(a)(1). That provision exempts from the FLSA’s overtime and minimum wage requirements […]

The state’s highest court has agreed to hear a claim by Gordon College that an associate professor, who sued the Christian school after she was denied a promotion, can be considered a “ministerial employee” and thus not covered by anti-discrimination laws. The case will be the first time the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court takes up […]

A Shrewsbury man on supervised release for selling steroids was acquitted Thursday of beating a federal probation intern during a urine screen. Daniel M. Frederickson, 30, was acquitted by a jury in U.S. District Court of assault on a federal employee causing injury, a crime which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in […]

A federal judge has ruled that an insurer must defend its policyholder in a sex trafficking suit filed by a woman who says a motel and its owners benefited from her being sold into prostitution on the premises. The woman claimed in her suit filed in 2015 that Bijal Inc., the Shangri-La Motel in Seekonk, […]

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has held that the failure to grant a lateral transfer may be the basis of a discrimination claim under Massachusetts anti-discrimination law where an employee can show there are material differences between the two positions in the opportunity for compensation, or in the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment. To […]

In a major freedom of speech decision on Wednesday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to public sector labor unions, ruling that public employees cannot be forced to pay fees or dues to a union to which he or she does not belong. NEPR reports that the high court handed down its 5-4 ruling in Janus […]

A Boston judge has ruled that Massachusetts alcohol retailers can legally sell booze at deep discounts when they order it in bulk, rebutting state regulators who said the practice can violate a state law that prohibits selling alcohol at less than cost. The Boston Globe reports that a decision by Suffolk Superior Court Judge Robert […]

The Boston Globe reports that Paul R. Shanley, a key figure in the clergy sex abuse scandal that began in Boston and shook the Roman Catholic church worldwide, was released from prison Friday and arrived in the small town of Ware, Mass., walking with a cane and looking frail. After spending 12 years in state […]

In a ruling hailed by survivors of child sexual abuse, the state’s highest court has upheld a 2014 law that gave victims an additional 32 years to file civil lawsuits against alleged perpetrators, according to the Boston Globe. The Supreme Judicial Court’s unanimous decision also upheld the part of the law that applies the extension […]

The Lowell Sun reports that disturbing new allegations have emerged in a human-trafficking case in which a prosecutor says a Lowell man — who is a member of a notorious street gang — had only been out of prison for several weeks when he plied a vulnerable 13-year-old girl with drugs and alcohol, raped her, […]

The Boston Globe reports that the state’s highest court says a state child pornography law does ban an obscene video chat that a 34-year-old man had with a 10-year-old boy in cyberspace. Jeffery Bundy was convicted of violating the state law that bars people from posing or exhibiting a child in a state of sexual […]

A West Brookfield, Mass., man with a prior child pornography conviction was sentenced Jan. 15 in U.S. District Court in Springfield, Mass. The sentence is the result of an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Massachusetts State Police. Christopher Boucher, 44, had previously pleaded guilty to […]

The Waltham News Tribune reports that a sex abuse claim has been tossed out of Court by a judge who ruled that the statute of limitations had long run, since the victim appreciated back in the 1980s’ that she had been abused. There are legislative efforts afoot to change the statute of limitations so that […]

A Queens, NY judge has rejected Bob Oliva’s motion to dismiss the $20 million lawsuit filed by a man who was sexually abused by the former Christ the King Regional High School basketball coach. The decision by Queens Supreme Court Judge Roger N. Rosengarten means the case will go to trial later this year unless […]

A Suffolk Superior Court judge will decide whether to dismiss a lawsuit against Children’s Hospital Boston, after hearing arguments this week on the suit filed on behalf of 11 people who say they were abused by pediatrician Melvin Levine, when he worked in North Carolina. Levine, who has been accused of sexually abusing dozens of […]

A former inspector for the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABC) pleaded guilty last week to extortion charges and received jail time for using his position of authority to extort money from an Everett business under his jurisdiction. Arthur Hitchman, 41, of Melrose, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, Jan. 11th, in Middlesex Superior Court to charges […]

Accused child molester Ernest Lorch, the founder of the prestigious Riverside Church (NY) basketball program, is not competent to be extradited to Massachusetts to stand trial for sexual abuse, a Westchester judge ruled in White Plains, as reported by the Daily News. State Supreme Court Judge Albert Lorenzo made the ruling after prosecutor Carrie Russell […]

A Massachusetts judge on Friday awarded a total of $3 million to two child sex abuse victims of a former Franciscan priest who served prison time for child molestation in a separate case. Superior Court Judge Janet Sanders entered the judgment against John Dority, awarding one victim $2 million and the other $1 million. Both […]

Federal Court judge Denise Casper has entered summary judgment for Defendant Cultural Care in a case brought by plaintiff, on behalf of herself and her son, alleging gross negligence, fraud, fraudulent and deceptive business practices in violation of Massachusetts and Illinois law and intentional infliction of emotional distress after an au pair provided by the […]

Thomas Scully, a Beverly Public Library employee who pled guilty to child pornography possession in 2009, is entitled to have his retirement allowance reinstated, a three-judge Appeals Court panel has ruled, overturning the judgment of lower courts on the grounds that his crimes were not directly related to his job, as reported by the State […]