Latest Massachusetts Headlines

All the headlines from our Massachusetts Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Massachusetts Approves 3.5% Workers’ Compensation Rate Decrease

Apr 26 2022 // The state’s insurance commissioner has approved an overall average decrease of 3.46% in workers’ compensation rates starting July 1, 2022 for Massachusetts businesses.Massachusetts businesses will save...

Former eBay Executive to Plead Guilty to Cyberstalking Massachusetts Couple

Apr 22 2022 // A former eBay Inc. security executive intends to plead guilty to federal charges that he planned a cyberstalking campaign that targeted a Massachusetts couple whose online newsletter was seen as critical of the e-commerce...

Massachusetts: First State Top Court Gives Industry a Win in Covid-19 Claims Case

Apr 21 2022 // The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, in the first state high court ruling on the question, has sided with an insurer and an insurance agency in finding that the Covid-19 losses claimed by three restaurants were not...

Jury Convicts Massachusetts Agency Owner Quinn of Stealing Disability Benefits

Apr 18 2022 // The owner and operator of an Arlington, Massachusetts-based insurance agency has been convicted by a federal jury in Boston of fraudulently receiving government disability benefits.Patrick Quinn, an ex-Marine who said he...

Massachusetts Firms Owe Treble Damages for Delayed Wages, State’s High Court Says

Apr 5 2022 // Massachusetts law requires that an employer who is late with wage payments to a fired employee must pay three times the late wages and benefits in damages, not just treble interest, the state’s high court has said.A...

People Moves: MacKinnon Joins Union Mutual; Gilbert Agency in Massachusetts Adds Monti

Apr 4 2022 // MacKinnon Joins Union MutualVermont’s Union Mutual Insurance Co. has hired George MacKinnon to be as vice president of underwriting. MacKinnon has 30 years of experience in the insurance industry, working most...

Judge Invalidates Massachusetts Investment Advisor Rule in Win for Robinhood

Apr 1 2022 // A Massachusetts judge on Wednesday dealt state securities regulators a major setback in their enforcement action against online brokerage Robinhood by declaring the state’s new fiduciary duty rule that underlies...

Coterie Insurance Expands Small Business Offerings to Massachusetts

Mar 30 2022 // Coterie Insurance, a small business insurtech, announced that its general liability and business owners insurance products are now available in Massachusetts for customers and agencies.Independent agents and brokers...

In 7-Eleven Case, Massachusetts High Court Rules Franchisees Can Be Employees

Mar 25 2022 // Franchisees in Massachusetts can be considered employees rather than independent contractors and thus be entitled to the state’s minimum wage, overtime rules and other state worker law protections, the state’s...

Massachusetts Dairy Firm Resumes Plant Operations After Cyber Attack

Mar 21 2022 // Most HP Hood LLC plants are back up and running after the dairy company’s network system was the victim of a “cyber security event,” but some school districts are concerned that they will have a milk...

Massachusetts Governor Wants to Expand Mental Health Services, Lower Drug Costs

Mar 18 2022 // Gov. Charlie Baker unveiled a bill Tuesday that he said would help expand access to primary care and mental health services and help control rising health care and prescription drug costs.The Republican detailed the...

Investor Ancora Wants Massachusetts Software Firm Everbridge to Explore Sale

Mar 17 2022 // Ancora Holdings Group, an investor in software maker Everbridge, is pressuring the Massachusetts software company to explore strategic alternatives including a sale of the firm, claiming that it is underperforming under...

Massachusetts School Employee Denied Remote Work Files Complaint

Mar 11 2022 // A middle school counselor and social worker has filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination alleging she was unfairly fired after she asked to work from home because she is pregnant and has...

GM Financial to Pay Massachusetts $1.8M Over Alleged Delays in GAP Insurance Refunds

Mar 9 2022 // GM Financial, an automobile financing company, has agreed to pay more than $1.8 million to resolve allegations that the company’s business practices violated Massachusetts state consumer protection laws. Attorney...

Eastern Insurance Acquires Michals Agency in Massachusetts

Mar 8 2022 // Natick, Massachusetts-based Eastern Insurance Group reports it has acquired the operating assets of Michals Insurance Agency, an insurance agency about 16 miles away in Watertown. Terms were not disclosed. The transaction...

Declarations

Mar 7 2022 // “If economic pressures dampen pricing, or if catastrophes result in escalating losses owing to inflation, or if more dangerous strains of COVID-19 emerge, the combined ratio may trend higher.”— Michelle...

Supreme Court Denies Christian College’s Ministerial Exception From Lawsuit… for Now

Mar 1 2022 // The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a petition by a Massachusetts Christian college seeking a religious “ministerial exception” to help it avoid a discrimination lawsuit brought by a professor denied a...

Phishing Scam Costs Massachusetts Town $102K

Feb 25 2022 // The Massachusetts tow nof Tewksbury has been cheated out of more than $100,000 in a phishing scam, but hopes to recover most of the money through insurance claims, the town manager said.An employee of Tewskbury received a...

Massachusetts House Passes Bill to Let Immigrants Get Driver’s Licenses

Feb 22 2022 // The Massachusetts House has approved a bill that would let immigrants in the country illegally obtain state driver’s licenses.If passed into law, Massachusetts would join 16 other states and the District of Columbia...

Massachusetts Hospital Settles for $14.6M Over Billing for Overlapping Surgeries

Feb 22 2022 // Massachusetts General Hospital will pay $14.6 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged overbilling for double-booked surgeries that were simultaneously overseen by the same surgeon.It’s the third time since 2019 that...