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Global NAPs, Inc. v. Awiszus

457 Mass. 489, 930 N.E.2d 1262 (2010)

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Global NAPs, Inc. v. Awiszus

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
457 Mass. 489, 930 N.E.2d 1262 (2010)

RW

Facts

The Massachusetts Maternity Leave Act (MMLA) guaranteed maternity leave for “a period not exceeding eight weeks,” except as might be provided otherwise by employment contract or company policy. Sandy Stephens, a pregnant employee of Global NAPs, Inc. (Global) (plaintiff), believed her supervisor had granted Stephens’s request for an 11-week maternity leave. Before the expiration of those 11 weeks, Stephens learned that Global had fired Stephens for failing to return to work after eight weeks. Stephens sued Global for violating the MMLA. Global retained Martha Awiszus and other lawyers (defendants) to handle the case. The trial court in Stephens’s case instructed the jury that the Massachusetts Commission against Discrimination (MCAD), which was statutorily empowered to enforce the MMLA, had adopted a guideline specifying that any employer that intended to provide no more than eight weeks’ leave needed to so notify an employee prior to commencement of the leave. The jury found in Stephens’s favor. Global commenced a second proceeding against its lawyers, alleging that the lawyers negligently failed to file a timely appeal of the Stephens jury’s hefty damages award. The trial court dismissed Global’s complaint. Global appealed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Spina, J.)

Concurrence/Dissent (Botsford, J.)

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