Legal Question in Employment Law in Massachusetts

I am currently gathering evidence to support a discrimination claim against my former employer that I will bring before the EEOC. I have dates and times of several occurrences of discriminatory actions perpetrated against me. I was told that I was being layed off verbally by management and upon receiving a copy of my personnel file I learned that the company wrote on documents that I was fired for performance problems although I received five raises in two years as shown on payroll records also I was never written up and there's no documents pertaining to performance problems any where in the file. My reviews in two years of employment were excellent but it seems my performance reviews are missing from the file. I want to know if I should make another request for the rest of the files can I make another request and would it be in my best interest to do so. Thank you for your help


Asked on 10/17/09, 12:06 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Sue-Ellen Kresh Law Office of Sue-Ellen Kresh

The short answer is that all Massachusetts employers are required to provide complete copies of personnel files upon written request and certain documents, including but not limited to performance reviews, are required to be contained therein. They are required to comply w/i five business days and may be subject to a fine for failure to comply, which can be enforced by the Attorney General's office.

It would probably be in your best interest to obtain these documents & include them along with your complaint. You may also want to evaluate whether state or federal law provides better protections for your specific case, which may help determine whether to file first with the MCAD or EEOC. It would be wise to speak with an attormey regarding the specifics, in order to best protect your rights. ALso be sure to pay attention to the statute of limitations to make sure your filing is considered timely, or your case could be thrown out before being considered on its potential merits.

Take care & good luck. My office is on the North SHore if htat is of any assistance to you.

Sincerely,

Sue-Ellen Kresh

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Answered on 10/30/09, 5:43 pm


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