Weber v. Coast to Coast Medical, Inc., et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-049-13)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports.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 12‑P‑1005 Appeals Court FREDERICK WEBER vs. COAST TO COAST MEDICAL, INC., & another.[1] No. 12‑P‑1005. Bristol. March 1, 2013. ‑ April 10, 2013. Present: Kafker, Vuono, & Fecteau, JJ. Massachusetts Wage Act. Labor, Wages, Attorney’s fees. Practice, Civil, Attorney’s fees, Directed verdict. Damages, Attorney’s fees. Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on September 2, 2009. The case was tried before Richard T. Moses, J., and an application for attorney’s fees was heard by him. Kevin M. Considine for the defendants. Maria Mancini Scott for the plaintiff. FECTEAU, J. The defendants, Coast to Coast Medical, Inc., and George Blaser, III (collectively, Medical), appeal from a judgment, entered on a Superior Court jury verdict in favor of the plaintiff, Frederick Weber, for commissions “due and payable” in the amount of $ 11,979.27, pursuant to G. L. c. 149, § 148, as appearing in St. 1956, c. 259.[2] The judge then trebled that amount pursuant to G. L. c. 149, § 150,[3] and judgment entered for $ 35,937.81; in addition to interest and costs, the judge also awarded attorney’s fees of $ 25,000, pursuant to § 150. Medical’s contention on appeal is that commissions do not constitute “lost wages and other benefits” within the meaning of § 150 so as to trigger the mandatory treble damages provision. G. L. c. 149, § 150, as appearing in St. 2008, c. 80, § 5. As we disagree with this view of the statute, we affirm the judgment. Background. The jury could have found from the evidence that Weber was employed by Medical as a sales representative from June to November, 2008. Weber’s compensation was undisputed to include a base salary of $ 40,000 per year, plus commissions. Medical regularly paid Weber’s base salary, but paid him only a single commission in the amount of about $ 3,100. After being laid off in November of 2008, Weber demanded Medical pay him his unpaid commissions, but Medical refused. After judgment entered on the jury’s verdict in Weber’s favor, and after an opportunity for the parties to brief the issue of treble damages, the judge determined that the “language of the Wage Act regarding commissions has a broad application and is restricted only to its requirements that commissions be ‘definitely determined’ and ‘due and payable,’” citing Okerman v. VA Software Corp., 69 Mass. App. Ct. 771, […]
Hepatitis B Exposure Scare at Boston Medical Center
Up to five patients at Boston Medical Center may have been exposed to the Hepatitis B virus while they received treatment at the hospital, according to the Boston Globe. “Recently, we became aware that a small number of patients were potentially exposed to (the) Hepatitis B virus and five patients are potentially at risk from the exposure,” BMC spokeswoman Jennifer Watson told the Globe. “We have communicated with these patients and are monitoring them closely. Additional measures have been put in place to avoid the possibility of a similar exposure in the future.” Hepatitis B is a potentially life-threatening virus that attacks the liver. The virus is spread through bodily fluids. The hospital did not disclose how the patients may have contracted the virus. Hospital officials did not say how the patients might have been exposed. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is investigating. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
South End Man Charged with Shooting Heroin in Boston Medical Center Men’s Room
Boston Police Officers responded to a report of an unresponsive male locked in a bathroom stall at Boston Medical Center at 840 Harrison Avenue at 3:45 p.m. on March 4. Upon arrival, officers reported that they found an unresponsive male slouched over the toilet in a locked stall with a hypodermic needle exposed and an aluminum container with a brown colored cooked residue consistent with heroin located on the bathroom floor. The officer called for the in-house medical staff for a possible overdose and broke open the lock to check on the well being of the suspect. The suspect came to, but was disoriented. He sat on the toilet with his sleeve rolled up and the officer reportedly observed a mark from a recent injection. The officer asked if the man was OK. The suspect reportedly replied that he had “just shot some heroin.” As the officer went to help the suspect stand up, the officer reportedly saw a small bag of brown powder fall from the suspect’s waistband. The officer called off the medical response. The suspect claimed that he did not know anything about the baggie of powder and that “the heroin belonged to a friend.” The suspect told officer that he had come to the hospital to shoot up and that he had no medical business there. The officer searched the suspect and found three transparent plastic baggies containing brown powder, two hypodermic needles and two metallic caps used for cooking, one containing brown powder residue and burn marks. The needles were properly disposed of and the bags were taken in as evidence. Officers arrested Jorge Luis Lugo of 444 Harrison Avenue and charged him with possession of a Class A substance with intent to distribute. South End Patch