Massachusetts CROWN Act Goes Into Effect on October 24, 2022

On July 26, 2022, Governor Charlie Baker signed into law “An Act Prohibiting Discrimination Based on Natural and Protective Hairstyles,” popularly known as the Massachusetts CROWN Act. The effective date of the new law is October 24, 2022. The Massachusetts CROWN Act has its genesis in a 2017 incident in which fifteen-year-old African-American sisters at a Massachusetts charter school were disciplined for wearing braid extensions, a protective hairstyle banned by their school at the time, but now specifically addressed under the protections of this new law.

As previously reported, the Massachusetts CROWN Act expands the definition of “race” and antidiscrimination protections under the Massachusetts General Laws to include “traits historically associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture, hair type, hair length and protective hairstyles.” The act separately defines “protective hairstyle” to “include, but not be limited to, braids, locks, twists, Bantu knots, hair coverings and other formations.” The Massachusetts CROWN Act tasks the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination with promulgating rules and regulations to effectuate these new definitions.

Given its genesis, the law also specifically prohibits public schools and related school organizations (including, but not limited to, school districts, public schools, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association) from adopting policies and codes that impair or prohibit hairstyles historically associated with race. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will provide written guidance on the new law in the school context.

As a violation under the new law could result in liability under Massachusetts antidiscrimination statutes (including damages for emotional distress, lost wages, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees), employers may want to consider reviewing their equal employment opportunity policies and grooming and uniform policies. They may also want to consider training their hiring staff on compliance with this new law.

Supreme Court Clears Bankruptcy Restructuring of Puerto Rico Government Pension Plans

On June 1, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a unanimous decision in Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico v. Aurelius Investment, LLC, No. 18–1334, holding that the selection of the members of the Financial and Oversight Management Board for Puerto Rico did not violate the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Key Takeaways From an ERISA Fiduciary Breach Ruling on Behavioral Standards of Care After a 10-Day Trial

Behavioral health claims administrators and plan sponsors alike may be looking more closely at their care guidelines—and how they are applied—after a federal court ruled in a California class action that a claims administrator had breached its fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) by applying standards of care that were more restrictive than generally accepted standards and by improperly prioritizing cost savings.

Germany COVID-19 Update: Eased ‘Emergency Brake’ Regulations in the Workplace

Germany’s nationwide “emergency brake” system—the public health framework of rules and restrictions first implemented by the German government in April 2021 to help contain the spread of COVID-19—expired on June 30, 2021, and, slowly but surely, some semblance of normality has begun returning to German citizens’ private and working lives. Due to a sharp drop in COVID-19 infection rates in Germany and because of the progress of Germany’s vaccination campaign, the federal government recently determined that the time was right to relax restrictive measures.

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Supreme Court Clears Bankruptcy Restructuring of Puerto Rico Government Pension Plans

Key Takeaways From an ERISA Fiduciary Breach Ruling on Behavioral Standards of Care After a 10-Day Trial

Germany COVID-19 Update: Eased ‘Emergency Brake’ Regulations in the Workplace