The Amicus Group – a collaboration of civil rights groups and members of the employment bar – have again identified a case coming before the SJC as having potential major significance for civil rights enforcement in Massachusetts.  JALSA led the way in bringing the issues of Joule v. Simmons to the attention of area civil rights groups.  Some twenty organizations – including groups focusing on race, gender, sexual orientation, low income representation, and disabilities — have now submitted an amicus brief in the case now pending in the Supreme Judicial Court.

The case presents the question whether a standard form “employment agreement” including an arbitration clause effectively waived the employee’s rights under G.L.c. 151B, the Commonwealth’s most comprehensive statutory effort to eliminate workplace discrimination.  JALSA and the other amici argue that there was no effective waiver in this case, and that, as a matter of public policy and contract law, no employer may, by way of a unilateral contract of adhesion, exempt itself from the administrative enforcement scheme established in G.L.c. 151B.  Many thanks to Anne Josephson and Heidi Alexander of Kotin, Crabtree and Strong for preparing this brief. (List of organizations signing this brief)

The Office of the Attorney General and the Massachusetts Employment Lawyers Association filed separate amicus briefs in support of this position. An amicus brief supporting the validity of such waivers was filed by the New England Legal Foundation and Associated Industries of Massachusetts.