Massachusetts has one of the best wage and commission laws in the country. These laws are enforced by the Attorney General’s office and are designed to protect your rights as an employee. If you have worked for a company that owes you wages and/or commissions and that employer doesn’t pay you wages or commissions in the time period that you are required to be paid. Then you can file a claim against the employer alleging that they violated these wage and commission laws.

Why is that so important?

There are many employers that will fire an employee and will not pay them their final paycheck. Conversely, they will pay them late, make excuses like they don’t have the money; or they will attest that you are not entitled to those wages or earned those commissions because you didn’t finish the job and so forth.

The bottom line is that you as an employee or former employee have the absolute right to talk to lawyer and report the information directly to the Attorney General’s office for this type of misconduct.

If you can prove your claim and your employer did violate that claim, you just do not only get your wages that is owed, you get 3 times the original total of wages that were due. Lastly, they have to pay your attorney’s fees and all costs associated with the litigation.

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Concerned About Your Loved Ones Living in Nursing Homes?

 

We live in scary times, with rules and guidelines concerning the coronavirus pandemic changing practically every day. This is especially true for nursing homes, where there’s a greater risk of complications for residents who get COVID-19. Because older people are more vulnerable to this disease, and because many circumstances make nursing homes potential breeding grounds for viral infections, nursing homes have had to limit visitors and isolate their residents.

If you have loved ones living in a nursing home, you may be experiencing a lot of concern and anxiety for their well-being. This can be more upsetting if you’re unable to see them in any way due to travel limitations or bans on visitors. You may not know how you can support your loved one in a nursing home or what rights they have. That’s why we’ve put together this guide to help you navigate the rights you and your loved ones have during this time of COVID-19.

Residents’ Rights in Long-Term Care Facilities

Your loved one has certain rights as a resident of a long-term care facility. These include, but are not limited to, receiving proper medical care; being free from neglect, abuse, and discrimination; participating in activities; having a family member, legal representative, or doctor informed of changes in treatment or condition; being treated with respect and dignity; the ability to make complaints without fear of repercussions; and having family and friends visit and participate in care.

Your state may also dictate more rights beyond what the CMS protects on the federal level. Even though your loved one has a right to visitation, this is being temporarily restricted for the greater well-being of all residents and staff in these facilities.

Visitation Rights for Nursing Homes

As of the writing of this article, just over 30 states and Washington DC are allowing visitors at nursing homes with strict rules to protect everyone inside, including face coverings, sanitizing, and social distancing.

Ultimately, local and state authorities are responsible for how and when visitation can resume. Some states are requiring or recommending that nursing home visits take place outside, where the risk of spreading the coronavirus is considerably lower.

In the 20 or so states that do not allow nursing home visits yet, the long-term care facilities are still in lockdown, with only essential staff and vendors allowed inside. Some are making exceptions for “end-of-life” visits, also known as “compassionate care situations,” in which immediate family members can visit a resident who is close to death.

You can check AARP’s guide on nursing home visitation in the US to see whether your state allows visitation.

Transparency Requirements for Nursing Homes About COVID-19

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requires nursing homes to tell residents and their families (or representatives) of a positive coronavirus case on-site within 12 hours of its confirmation. They are also required to report any cases to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Not every state is making the names of nursing homes with confirmed cases public.

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Depositions and Mediations in Personal Injury Cases — James Swartz

 

New clients are often curious about what type of involvement will be asked of them when pursuing a case. Aside from providing accurate details, evidence and open communication with their attorneys; there are also depositions and mediations, both of which are key parts of a personal injury case.

Deposition

Depositions typically happen early on in case either in a room or via zoom. You as the plaintiff would have your attorney attend the deposition with you, the defense attorney will be asking questions and also a stenographer who is there to document the deposition in writing. Depositions are usually sworn testimony and the transcript that is formed from the deposition now becomes part of the evidence for the case.

The defense attorney has a couple of things that s/he is trying to achieve when executing a deposition. They will work to unearth facts that they may not have known about yourself and the case itself. Another thing that they work to do is try to get a liability record, which may mean getting an admission of how the accident or other unique details that they feel may assist their client. An important tip that we  always advise our clients is to listen carefully and only answer the question that is asked.

For example, a defense attorney may ask you, ‘Do you know what  time it is?’;  the correct answer is ‘Yes’ not ‘Yes, it’s 3:47pm’. Leave it to the defense to ask a follow up question after you answer ‘Yes’, they may ask you, ‘Well, what time is it?’, then you may proceed to answer with actual time.

That is just a small example of what the deposition process looks like. However, this does not mean that you are hiding anything, it just means that the opposition’s attorney has a job to do to get the answers they need for their client.

Mediation

Mediations are a very different event, they are not binding, there is no arbitrator involved and there is no judge involved. They usually occur further along in the litigation process after depositions have been made, after there has been written discovery, after medical records have been produced and shared. So essentially, each side has all the information they need to really assess the true liability and value of the claim.

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Secrets Insurance Companies Don’t Want You to Know When You Have a Personal Injury Case — James Swartz

When injuries happen, corporations work hard with insurance companies to minimize the financial obligations of the event due to their negligence. They bombard victims with calls, legal jargon and a lack of urgency in the hopes to tire victims out and make them settle. There are a few secrets they don’t want you to know especially when you have been a victim of personal injury; it can be from a car accident, slip & fall, defective product, construction site accident and more. James Swartz discusses briefly a few things to look out for when you hear from these insurance companies and corporations.

1. Don’t Accept the First Offer.

Initial Communications and offers by insurance companies are almost always lowball numbers. That “offer” may be a financial number that you have never seen before, can look very appealing and its done with the hopes of you not pursuing the case any further. Nevertheless, you still have to consider the lifetime effects that the claim will have on you such as medical costs, personal care, emotional distress, day to day life costs especially if you are unable to work and so forth.

2. Insurance Companies Only Care About Themselves.

The only real interest of an insurance company is their own bottomline. So when you’re dealing with an adjuster that seems friendly and appears to be on your side, don’t buy it! They only care about keeping as much money as possible in their pockets, despite your obvious needs and expenditures from your case.

3. Be Knowledgeable of All Deadlines.

There are important deadlines that have to be met in any claim that is going to be pursued. For example, there are certain notice requirements that have to be provided to the defendant within a 2 year period. There are certain statute of limitations that have to be met for certain personal injury cases within 3 years. Missing any of these deadlines can have a devastating effect on the potential success of your case or you won’t be able to pursue your case at all.

In addition to your substantive rights within a personal injury case i.e; what happened in the accident, what your injuries are and so forth, you have procedural issues that must be addressed in any personal injury case.

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8 Things to Know About Your Employment Rights During the Pandemic

The world has changed a lot this year, and the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented circumstances that have left many businesses reeling. Right now, many people are returning to work or looking for work, and they are facing a lot of new rules and guidelines from their employers.

If you’re working during the pandemic, you’re likely worried about exposure to COVID - 19 and wondering about your rights when it comes to pandemic procedures. What can your employer require? What can’t they? We’re here to give you 8 things you need to know about working during the 2020 global pandemic.

1. Your company can require you to return to the office, but you may have options

If you’ve been working from home while your business offices were closed, you may be called to return to the workplace when they reopen. Employees generally have few legal rights when it comes to refusing to go to work if they want to keep their jobs. Even if you consider the workplace to be hazardous to your health, your employer has the right to fire you for not showing up.

In certain circumstances, though, you could be exempt from going to work. These circumstances include certain health conditions or being immunocompromised, which make you more susceptible to severe illness and possible death from COVID-19. If that’s the case, you could be entitled to continue working remotely under the ADA, which requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for their workers.

You could also qualify for paid sick or family medical leave under the Families First stimulus legislation, which was passed explicitly for the 2020 pandemic.

2. Your company can require you to get tested for COVID-19 before returning to work

The EEOC has determined that coronavirus testing is a necessary measure to track and prevent the spread of this illness in the workplace. If your employer feels the same way, they can require workers to take a test to check for active COVID-19 cases.

They cannot, however, require you to take a coronavirus antibody test, which shows whether you have had and fought the virus in your immune system in the past. The EEOC ruled that requiring antibody tests is a violation of the ADA’s protection against medical examinations that are unrelated to your job or unnecessary for business practices.

3. Your employer has the right to ask you to disclose locations you’ve visited

The CDC has advised that all people traveling to COVID-19 hot spots should self-isolate for at least a few days (sometimes up to two weeks) upon returning. This means your employer can ask where you went on a personal trip to determine if it’s safe for you to be at work. Some state guidelines may also require your employer to enforce quarantine guidelines for workers who recently traveled in high-risk areas or outside the country.

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Getting Help From a Massachusetts Lawyer in a Wrongful Death Claim

Wrongful death refers to a lawsuit which alleges that the victim was killed as a consequence of negligence or misdeed of another. Usually, wrongful death occurs as a result of personal injury accidents, medical malpractice, auto accidents, workplace accidents, dangerous or defective products,and other accidents. When the proximate cause of the wrongful death of the decedent roots from reckless, careless or negligent acts of another, his actions are often subject to personal injury and/or wrongful death suits. A Massachusetts lawyer at Swartz & Swartz, P.C. will ensure that your family’s rights are protected if you have lost a loved one due to the negligence of others. If your family has experienced such a tragedy, please contact us.

Employment Rights Lawyer - Protect Your Employee Rights Today

If you have experienced discrimination, sexual harassment or another type of employment law matter, it is important to protect your rights by seeking the assistance of a skilled employment law attorney.Hiring an employment litigation lawyer to help you to get through a legal problem can save you time and frustration. Get the legal support you need now to prevent troubles in the future.To learn more about what we can do for you, arrange an appointment with one of the employment litigation attorneys in our Boston office by calling (617) 742-1900, or toll-free at 1-800-545-3732.