A recent Federal District Court decision in Massachusetts held that Netflix’s “Watch Instantly” web site may be a place of public accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The lawsuit, National Association of the Deaf v. Netflix, Inc., was filed on behalf of deaf and hearing-impaired individuals who seek a court order compelling Netflix to provide closed captioning for all…
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Developments in the Dynamic World
of Business and Employment Law
Bennett & Belfort is pleased to announce that founding partner David E. Belfort has been elected President of the Massachusetts Employment Lawyers Association ("MELA") for the 2012-2013 term. MELA's mission is to enforce and protect the legal rights of employees in a wide variety of employment matters, including: discrimination, retaliation, sexual harassment, unemployment issues and severance, non-competition and confidentiality agreements, and civil…
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A common issue arising in contract disputes relates to which representatives within a corporation (or acting on behalf of a corporation) have the authority to bind the corporation to a contractual obligation. It is well settled that a principal is liable for its agent’s conduct where the agent is acting within his authority or apparent authority. Theo & Sons, Inc.…
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Bennett & Belfort, P.C. attorneys, Todd Bennett and Craig Levey, were successful in obtaining a dismissal of a breach of contract case in Federal Court on behalf of their client, Gregory Daley. The case was highlighted in this week’s “Important Opinions of the Week” section of Lawyer’s Weekly. Attorney Bennett and Attorney Levey were defending Gregory Daley, the franchisee and…
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Under Massachusetts law, public policy dictates that physician non-compete agreements (and other restrictive covenants) should not interfere with a patient’s ability to select a physician of their choice. Accordingly, non-compete agreements that restrict a doctors’ ability to practice medicine are unenforceable. The relevant law is Massachusetts General Laws (M.G.L.), Chapter 112, Section 12X. In recent years, the medical industry has…
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Arbitration is an increasingly popular and often cost-effective way to avoid protracted litigation in court, however whether they are equitabile is subject to great debate. Arbitration provisions are increasingly being considered by employers for inclusion in employment contracts relative to disputes between employers and employees. There is much controversy between worker’s advocates and management lawyers as to whether such provisions are fair…
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The Federal Statute commonly referred to as “COBRA” (the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985), gives employees who lose their group health benefits the right to continue benefits at their own cost. COBRA only covers workers whose employers have twenty or more employees. However, the Massachusetts “Mini-COBRA” statute (M.G.L. c. 176J § 9) extends that right to Massachusetts employees…
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We are proud to announce that in the May 28, 2012 issue of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, Bennett & Belfort, P.C. partner David E. Belfort was quoted in Dan McDonald's front page article entitled "Bar Expects Fallout from Cori Reform”. The final provision of the August 2010 CORI (Criminal Offender Record Information) reform law officially went into effect on May 4th, 2012. …
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