Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts

The plaintiff was a resident of Massachusetts seeking an abuse prevention order against her nonresident partner. The plaintiff and her partner (the defendant) met in Massachusetts and moved to Florida, where they had a child. The plaintiff took the child to Massachusetts on occasion but the defendant never returned. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant physically abused her and she fled to Massachusetts with her son. She alleged that prior to her escape, the defendant accused her of cheating, called her a whore, and threatened to kill her and the child. He block

A few weeks after College-Town hired the employee, Rizzi, her direct supervisor began engaging in sexually inappropriate conduct. He made repeated sexually suggestive comments, touched her back on one occasion, and at another time placed his hand over a slit in her dress while commenting on her clothing. During a performance discussion requested by Rizzi, the supervisor stated that she performed well and added a sexual remark about her body. On another occasion, he used an explicit sexual term to refer to her.

In the case Commonwealth v. Boucher, the defendant pleaded guilty to rape of a child and assault and battery on a child.

The plaintiff was employed by Stop & Shop as a production line worker. From her first day of work, she was subjected to repeated sexual harassment by her supervisor and two foremen. Other female employees were also subjected to similar conduct. The harassment included sexually inappropriate comments and behavior that persisted over time. Although the plaintiff reported some incidents to management, she did not report all of them because she feared retaliation in the form of more difficult work assignments.

In Haddad v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (2009), the plaintiff was employed by Wal-Mart as a staff pharmacist for approximately ten years. She was later assigned to serve as a temporary pharmacy manager. During the thirteen months she held that role, she was paid at a lower rate than male pharmacists who served as pharmacy managers.

The plaintiff and the defendant lived together and had a child. Over a period of approximately two to four years, the defendant physically abused the plaintiff. The plaintiff previously obtained an abuse prevention order against the defendant under General Laws chapter 209A. That order later expired.

The plaintiff was a volunteer at a swap shop operated by the Town of Falmouth at its waste management facility. The defendant was employed by the town as the land supervisor and gatekeeper for the facility. Over a period of approximately three years, the defendant repeatedly visited the swap shop and made unwelcome sexual advances toward the plaintiff. The plaintiff asked the defendant to stop and to leave her alone, but the conduct continued. The town later terminated the plaintiff’s volunteer services and barred her from the facility.

The plaintiff, a female employee, filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) alleging sex discrimination, unequal pay, and denial of promotion by her employer. The Commission dismissed the complaint, and the plaintiff appealed. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the Commission’s decision.