MRW Scores Final Victory in Decade-Plus-Long Case
On December 24, 2012, Superior Court Judge S. Jane Haggerty entered final judgment for Messing, Rudavsky & Weliky’s client, Kimberly Schive, in her 13-year-old retaliation case against her former employer, Psy-Ed Corporation. In the lawsuit, Psy-Ed had sued Ms. Schive after she filed an MCAD complaint alleging disability discrimination. Ms. Schive counterclaimed, saying that Psy-Ed had sued to punish her for bringing MCAD claims.
Ms. Schive won on her counterclaims in a bench trial in 2006, but the employer appealed. The case went up to Massachusetts’ highest court, the Supreme Judicial Court. In May 2011, the SJC ruled in favor of Schive, holding the employer liable for unlawful retaliation, and sent the case back to the lower court for adjustment of the judgment. Along the way, Ms. Schive’s case established important new law about the scope of retaliation claims in Massachusetts. Most important, the SJC held that former employees as well as current employees are protected under the law from acts of retaliation by their employers.
The remand has finally ended, after a number of unsuccessful challenges by Psy-Ed’s corporate successor.
Ms. Schive’s long ordeal is hopefully over, nearly thirteen years after it began. Future plaintiffs in retaliation cases will benefit for the long battle Ms. Schive has now won.