NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us SJC‑11222 JUDITH ANN TAYLOR & others[1] vs. EASTERN CONNECTION OPERATING, INC. Middlesex. January 8, 2013. ‑ May 17, 2013. Present: Ireland, C.J., Spina, Cordy, Botsford, Gants, Duffly, & Lenk, JJ. Contract, Employment, Choice of forum clause, Choice of law clause. Practice, Civil, Choice of forum, Motion to dismiss. Conflict of Laws. Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on October 19, 2010. A motion to dismiss was heard by Dennis J. Curran, J. The Supreme Judicial Court on its own initiative transferred the case from the Appeals Court. Shannon Liss-Riordan (James W. Simpson, Jr., with her) for the plaintiffs. Robert R. Berluti for the defendant. Danielle Y. Vanderzanden, for National Federation of Independent Business Small Business legal Center, amicus curiae, submitted a brief. Audrey R. Richardson, for Brazilian Immigrant Center & others, amici curiae, submitted a brief. LENK, J. The question presented in this case is whether, in the circumstances, individuals who live and work outside of Massachusetts for a corporation headquartered in Massachusetts may bring an action in a Massachusetts court to enforce certain Massachusetts independent contractor, wage, and overtime pay statutes. Insofar as the written contract between the parties contains an enforceable clause requiring both that actions be brought in Massachusetts and that the “Contract and all rights and obligations of the parties” be determined under Massachusetts law, and where application of Massachusetts law is not contrary to a fundamental policy of the jurisdiction where the individuals live and work, we conclude that it was error to dismiss the plaintiffs’ complaint.[2] 1. Background. We recite the facts alleged in the complaint, accepting as true such facts, as well as any reasonable inferences drawn therefrom. See Mass. R. Civ. P. 12 (b) (1), (6), 365 Mass. 754 (1974); Ginther v. Commissioner of Ins., 427 Mass. 319, 322 (1998). The plaintiffs, Judith Ann Taylor, Gardner Taylor, and Donald Wellington, are individuals who live in New York and work there as couriers for the defendant, Eastern Connection Operating, Inc., a corporation headquartered in Woburn, Massachusetts. The defendant is in the business of delivering packages in various States along the East Coast, including Massachusetts and New York. The plaintiffs entered into identical contracts (collectively, the contract) with the defendant to perform package pickup and delivery services exclusively in […]
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