Latest Massachusetts Headlines

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

Platforms’ Gig Worker Measure Moves Step Closer to Ballot in Massachusetts

Sep 2 2021 // Massachusetts’ attorney general on Wednesday gave backers of a proposed ballot measure, which would define drivers for app-based companies like Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. as independent contractors rather...

Massachusetts Contractor Faces $1.3M in Penalties After Workers Die at Dig Site

Aug 31 2021 // At a Boston sewer repair worksite in February, Jordy Alexander Castaneda Romero and Juan Carlos Figueroa Gutierrez died after a dump truck struck and pushed them into a nine-foot deep trench.For their employer, Atlantic...

Case of 76 in Massachusetts Veterans Home Who Died of COVID Lands in Court

Aug 26 2021 // Two former top officials at a Massachusetts veterans home where nearly 80 residents died in one of the country’s deadliest COVID-19 outbreaks in a long-term care facility appeared in court Tuesday in an effort to...

Brown & Brown of Massachusetts to Acquire Berkshire Insurance Group

Aug 25 2021 // Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc. and Brown & Brown Inc. announced the execution of a definitive agreement for the sale of the assets and operations of Berkshire Insurance Group, Inc. (BIG), a subsidiary of Berkshire Hills,...

OSHA Proposes $1.3M in Penalties Over Massachusetts Worker Deaths

Aug 23 2021 // Federal workplace safety regulators on Wednesday proposed $1.3 million in penalties for the construction company that employed two men who died when they were struck by a dump truck and pushed into a 9-foot deep trench at...

Workers at Massachusetts Veterans’ Home at Center of COVID-19 Outbreak Sue

Aug 19 2021 // Employees of the Massachusetts veterans’ home at the center of a devastating COVID-19 outbreak in the spring of 2020 have sued several members of the facility’s former leadership team, alleging they were forced...

Massachusetts Utilities Seek to Stretch Reimbursement for Storm Damage

Aug 19 2021 // Massachusetts’ two largest utilities have asked to defer reimbursement payments for weather damage after a record amount of storms exceeded the maximum number the companies can seek reimbursement for.Under state law,...

Massachusetts Woman Arrested for Workers’ Compensation Benefits Fraud

Aug 17 2021 // A Norwood, Massachusetts, woman was arrested in connection with fraudulently receiving federal workers’ compensation benefits and disability benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA).Karen Nolan was...

Massachusetts Tree Service Company Allegedly Retaliated Against Employees

Aug 13 2021 // The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent preliminary injunction preventing a Holbrook, Massachusetts, tree service company and its sole officer from retaliating against former and current employees who cooperate...

Massachusetts Man Pleads Guilty in Co-Worker’s Death

Aug 12 2021 // A Massachusetts construction worker pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and will serve an 18-month sentence for the punch that killed his friend and co-worker last year.Robert Clarke and Elliott Fama came to Maine in...

Former Massachusetts School Superintendent Alleges Anti-Gay Discrimination

Aug 9 2021 // The former superintendent of Hull public schools in Hull, Massachusetts, alleges in a lawsuit that he was discriminated against because he is gay and his firing has made it impossible for him to land a new job in...

Massachusetts Ballot Question Would Stop Short of Declaring Gig Workers Employees

Aug 9 2021 // Some gig workers and a coalition of app-based businesses including Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Instacart are pushing a proposed ballot question in Massachusetts they say would grant new benefits for workers while stopping...

Massachusetts Sues Grubhub Over Fees Charged During Pandemic

Aug 3 2021 // Online food delivery platform Grubhub charged some Massachusetts restaurants illegally high fees during the coronavirus pandemic, the state attorney general’s office alleged in a lawsuit filed Thursday.The suit,...

Man Killed When Machinery Collapses on Him at Massachusetts Storage Facility

Jul 29 2021 // A 38-year-old man was killed when a piece of machinery collapsed on him at a storage facility in Everett, authorities said Monday. The man was operating a hydraulic forklift system alone at a Commercial Street facility on...

Acrobat Injured After Fall at Barnstable County Fair in Massachusetts

Jul 28 2021 // An acrobat has been hospitalized following injuries sustained in a fall at the Barnstable County Fair Wednesday.The man fell about 20 feet to the ground while he was performing on a large, spinning structure called the...

The Hilb Group Acquires Massachusetts’ MillBrook Benefits and Insurance Services

Jul 28 2021 // The Hilb Group has acquired Massachusetts-based MillBrook Benefits and Insurance Services LLC, strengthening its presence throughout New England. Based in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, MillBrook specializes in customized...

Massachusetts Man Charged with Arson Following Great Barrington Blaze

Jul 26 2021 // A Massachusetts man is facing charges of arson and insurance fraud in connection with a fire that consumed a building he owned in Great Barrington.The building held apartments and a retail shop but was vacant when it went...

Massachusetts Couple Sues eBay Over ‘Unrelenting’ Harassment Campaign

Jul 22 2021 // A Massachusetts couple sued eBay Inc on Wednesday for being subjected to an “unrelenting stream” of threats by its employees to stifle their online newsletter critical of the e-commerce company.In a complaint...

Burns & Wilcox Brokerage Opens Massachusetts Office, Adds Five in Northeast

Jul 14 2021 // Burns & Wilcox Brokerage, a business unit of H.W. Kaufman Group solely dedicated to complex wholesale property/casualty brokerage, has opened its newest office in Boston, Massachusetts, and added five brokers to its...

Massachusetts Man Sentenced to Prison for Workers’ Compensation Fraud Scheme

Jul 9 2021 // A Massachusetts man has been sentenced to prison for a fraud scheme to evade payroll taxes and workers’ compensation requirements in the construction industry.U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard has sentenced...