The Boston Regional Solicitor's Office

The Boston Regional Solicitor's Office is responsible for civil trial litigation and legal advice and support for the U.S. Department of Labor for matters arising in the following states:

• Connecticut
• Maine
• Massachusetts
• New Hampshire
• Rhode Island
• Vermont

The Boston Regional Solicitor's Office employs approximately 25 attorneys and 4 paralegals.

WHAT WE DO:

The Boston Regional Solicitor's Office:

• recommends and prosecutes litigation in administrative law courts and U.S. District and Bankruptcy Courts throughout New England;
• provides legal and strategic advice and assistance to DOL worker protection agencies in support of their enforcement priorities;
• works cooperatively with state and local governments and with worker advocacy organizations to achieve common worker protection goals; and
• assists United States Attorney's offices and state and local prosecutors in the prosecution of criminal cases arising from DOL agency civil investigations

Boston Regional Solicitor's Office attorneys may be called upon to handle matters in any of the Department's program areas. Most work performed in this region arises out of investigative activity by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (including Whistleblower), the Wage and Hour Division, the Employee Benefits Security Administration, and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. Among the industries we often deal with are construction, restaurants, temporary staffing agencies, insurance companies, and financial services companies. We frequently handle cases involving:

• workers misclassified as independent contractors or otherwise harmed by predatory employment practices
• workers exposed to hazardous conditions in their workplaces
• retaliation against workers who complaint about suspected violations of their rights as well as workers who cooperate with DOL investigations
• service providers to pension and welfare plans

OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

OSH Act Enforcement

Obtaining a decision from a Massachusetts state licensing board to revoke a contractor’s construction supervisor’s license for repeated violations of the OSH Act and failing to pay OSHA penalties.

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osha/osha20240108

Enforcing a contempt order issued by the U. S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to a Massachusetts roofing company after the company failed to honor a settlement agreement with OSHA in which the company pledged to pay its outstanding OSHA penalties and implement specific safety improvements.

https://www.osha.gov/news/newsreleases/region1/02092023
https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osha/osha20221109

Obtaining a trial decision against a New Hampshire general contractor who claimed he was not an employer, including $162,000 in penalties for which the employer was held personally liable, as well as attorneys’ fees as a sanction for failing to comply with his discovery obligations.

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/sol/sol20231130

Obtaining a trial decision against a Maine roofing contractor for willful fall protection violations, including $1.57 million in penalties for which the employer was held personally liable.

https://www.osha.gov/news/newsreleases/region1/06282023

Obtaining a trial decision against a Massachusetts behavioral hospital and its parent company for their failure to sufficiently protect employees at a Massachusetts behavioral health facility from workplace violence, including attorneys’ fees in both the administrative proceeding and in a U.S. District Court subpoena enforcement action for failing to preserve relevant video and comply with discovery obligations.

https://www.osha.gov/news/newsreleases/region1/04252023
https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/sol/sol20211221

Supporting the federal criminal prosecution and conviction of the owner of a Connecticut construction company who made false statements concerning OSHA’s investigation of one of the company’s work sites.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ct/pr/contractor-pleads-guilty-lying-osha-investigators

Helping to negotiate favorable resolutions of citations issued by OSHA in inspections conducted after one or more employees were killed, suffered severe injury, or were at risk of same, including:

• A fatal trench collapse in Connecticut:
  https://www.osha.gov/news/newsreleases/region1/01302023
  https://www.osha.gov/news/newsreleases/brief/03172023
• Fall hazards at a New Hampshire worksite;
  https://www.osha.gov/news/newsreleases/region1/02272023
• An electrical arc flash/blast fatality in Massachusetts; and
  https://www.osha.gov/news/newsreleases/region1/01122023
• Hazardous chemical exposures at a Connecticut testing facility.
  https://www.osha.gov/news/newsreleases/region1/09162022

Whistleblower Enforcement

Securing a consent judgement which, among other remedies, awarded over $168,000 in compensatory, punitive and emotional distress damages to a Rhode Island nail salon employee who was fired and threatened after raising safety and health concerns, and filing an OSHA complaint.

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/sol/sol20240529

Obtaining a $650,000 jury verdict in U.S. District Court against a Massachusetts construction company and its chief executive officer that retaliated against an employee after he reported an injury by initiating a law enforcement investigation and facilitating his detention by immigration authorities.

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/sol/sol20220622

Wage and Hour Enforcement

Obtaining a unanimous decision from the First Circuit Court of Appeals that affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the Department on the FLSA’s administrative exemption.

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20240912-0

Obtaining a favorable decision denying the employers’ motion to dismiss the Department’s FLSA retaliation claim based on Facebook posts disparaging an employee who engaged in protected activity.

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/sol/sol20240522-1

Successfully intervening in a private FLSA lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Vermont and obtaining dismissal of the employer’s countersuit against the plaintiff workers.

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20231212

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/sol/sol20230321

Obtaining a default judgment under the anti-retaliation provisions of both the FLSA and Occupational Safety and Health Act that enjoined the employers from future violations of the anti-retaliation provisions of those statutes and ordered them to pay over $359,000 in damages

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20240207-0

Securing an FLSA consent judgment requiring two healthcare staffing companies to pay over $2.4 million in back wages and liquidated damages to 341 employees. 

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20241203-0

Obtaining $1.9 million in back wages and liquidated damages for 853 healthcare workers in Rhode Island, as well as a $100,000 civil money penalty. 

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20250103

Securing a consent judgment requiring an east coast restaurant chain to pay $11.4 million in back wages and liquidated damages to more than a thousand employees.

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20231109

Employee Retirement and Income Security Act Enforcement

Negotiating a settlement with a national insurance company that required the company to 1) readjudicate life insurance claim denials based on lack of evidence of insurability when the company collected premiums without actually first determining insurability; and 2) readjudicate claim denials based on total disability at the time of enrollment when the insurance policies did not require evidence of insurability.

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ebsa/ebsa20240611

Negotiating a settlement with a Maine welding equipment supplier and its owners that required the company to pay $6.3 million to participants in its employee stock ownership plan after the company owners manipulated the valuation of the shares in the plan to the detriment of the participants and beneficiaries.

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ebsa/ebsa20221219

Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Enforcement

Assisting OFCCP obtain a conciliation agreement requiring a financial services company to allocate $4.2 million for future pay adjustments to remedy alleged gender-based pay disparities.

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ofccp/ofccp20240722

Assisting OFCCP obtain a conciliation agreement requiring a jet engine manufacturer to pay $443,000 to resolve alleged hiring discrimination against female job applicants.

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ofccp/ofccp20240209

Assisting OFCCP obtain a conciliation agreement requiring a medical equipment supplier to pay $57,000 to female employees who were excluded from a selection and promotion process.

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ofccp/ofccp20241107

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AGENCIES SUPPORTED:

• Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
• Wage and Hour Division (WHD)
• Office of Federal Contract Compliance (OFCCP)
• Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)

LAW AND PARALEGAL STUDENT INTERN PROGRAM:

The Boston Regional Solicitor's Office operates a vigorous law and paralegal student intern program year-round, offering students exposure to the full range of activities the office engages in. Several of our former interns have gone on to become participants in the Department's Honors Program.

CONTACT INFORMATION: