Boston Employment Law Attorney

MacLellan Law Firm, P.C. exclusively represents employees in suits against their employer and, supervisors arising out of workplace discrimination and/or retaliation. 

In order for an employee to bring a suit against their employer for discrimination, hostile work environment and/or retaliation, the employee must be a member of a protected class and the discrimination must have arisen because of the employee’s membership in a protected class. Protected classes include gender – including sexual harassment and pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identification, race, religion, age, national origin and disability. 

Discrimination can occur when an employer subjects the employee to an adverse employment action, including actions such as demotion, salary reduction, disciplinary warnings and termination, and omissions such as failing to allow employees to participate fully  in the workplace and failure to promote.

A hostile work environment is one which is pervaded by harassment or abuse, with the resulting intimidation, humiliation and stigmatization which poses a formidable barrier to the employee’s full participation in the workplace. To satisfy the legal requirements for suit, the hostile work environment must occurbased on the employee’s membership in a protected class. A situation involving a supervisor who is difficult, critical or verbally abusive, but not discriminatory, does not qualify.

In Massachusetts, employees with discrimination claims must, as an initial step, file a Charge of Discrimination with an administrative agency, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination,(“MCAD”), within 300 days of the discriminatory action. The deadline is strictly enforced, so it is important that you take action immediately after the issuance of a disciplinary action, termination or other adverse employment action.  After filing a Charge of Discrimination at the MCAD, the employee then has three years from the discriminatory action to file a lawsuit in state court.