Wage and hour violations just became even more costly for Massachusetts employers as the Massachusetts legislature passed a bill mandating triple damages for all violations, regardless of employer intent. Senate Bill No. 1059 amends various provisions of the state wage statutes pertaining to damages. The new law goes into effect on July 13, 2008. As a result, wage and hour claims are now more attractive to plaintiffs' attorneys, and employers can expect to see an increase in wage and hour litigation, particularly class action litigation, in Massachusetts, ranging from claims for unpaid overtime to tip pooling violations.

Treble damages for wage violations had been allowed since 1993, but many state court judges treated them as discretionary. In 2005, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in Wiedmann v. The Bradford Group that an award of treble damages in a wage payment case is not mandatory but, rather, in a judge's discretion. Quoting an earlier
case, the court acknowledged that treble damages are "punitive in nature and generally appropriate where conduct is "outrageous, because of the defendant's evil motive or his reckless indifference to the rights of others. The legislature drafted Senate Bill No. 1059 in response to Wiedmann. Notably, in passing the bill, the legislature characterized the law as a "clarification of existing law rather than a change in the law, which will likely lead to arguments that the law should be afforded retroactive effect.


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