The Massachusetts Appeals Court held that a hospital physician waited too long to sue over disability claims based on events from 2006 through 2011, and that later discovery of more evidence did not restart the clock. It also held that he could not challenge the 2016 end of his honorary hospital status because he had no evidence he could still do the essential functions of his job. This is an unpublished Appeals Court decision under Rule 23.0, which courts may cite as persuasive but not as binding precedent.
What happened
The employee worked as an attending anesthesiologist at a hospital starting in 1991. In 2006 the hospital and its parent network denied a specific accommodation he requested for his disability. In January 2011 they granted a renewed request, but he became unable to work even with that accommodation, stopped clinical work after April 2011, and began receiving long-term disability benefits in July 2011. In 2012 the hospital moved him to unpaid honorary status, and in March 2016 the department chief told him that status and a related academic appointment would end in October 2016. He filed with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination in January 2017 and sued in the Superior Court in March 2019. The trial judge granted summary judgment to the employer on every claim.
What the court decided
The Appeals Court affirmed in Corn v. Brigham & Women’s Hospital, No. 24-P-421 (Mass. App. Ct. May 19, 2025) (Rule 23.0 decision).
The three year deadline. A lawsuit under the state antidiscrimination law must be filed no later than three years after the unlawful practice. G.L. c. 151B, § 9. The clock starts when the employee knows or should know the employer’s conduct harmed him. Silvestris v. Tantasqua Regional Sch. Dist., 446 Mass. 756 (2006). For a failure to accommodate, the claim starts when the employee knows or should know the employer refused the accommodation or refused to engage in the process of finding one. Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. v. Massachusetts Comm’n Against Discrimination, 441 Mass. 632 (2004). The court found the employee had notice no later than mid 2011, so his discrimination, retaliation and hostile work environment claims based on conduct before March 2016 were time barred. The court also noted the separate 300 day deadline to file a charge with the Commission. G.L. c. 151B, § 5.
No continuing violation. The continuing violation doctrine is a narrow exception. It does not help when an earlier act already put the employee on notice of a duty to assert his rights. Ocean Spray, 441 Mass. 632. Learning in discovery that colleagues had gotten similar accommodations, or that coworkers may have mocked him privately, did not revive the old claims. Once the claim accrued, he had to file on time.
Qualified person requirement. To challenge the 2016 decision, the employee had to show he was a “qualified handicapped person,” able to perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation. G.L. c. 151B, § 1 (16); Godfrey v. Globe Newspaper Co., 457 Mass. 113 (2010). There was no evidence he asked for an accommodation or tried to return to clinical work after July 2011, and his own disability benefit application said he could not do the job even with the accommodation he had sought. That ended the claim. The court did not decide whether honorary status counted as employment.
The court also rejected his other claims for lack of evidence, noting among other things that his honorary and academic roles were unpaid.
What this means for you
The employer won this case, and the lesson is about timing. In Massachusetts the deadline usually runs from the day you learn of the decision that hurt you, such as a denied accommodation request. It does not wait until you find proof that the decision was unfair. If your employer says no to an accommodation, that refusal can start the clock right away.
A second trap is the paperwork you file for disability benefits. Statements that you cannot do your job, even with help, can later be used to show you were not a qualified person under the discrimination law. That does not mean you should not apply for benefits you need. It means the words you use matter, and they should be accurate and complete.
What to do now
- Write down the date of every accommodation request and every answer you received, and keep copies of emails and letters.
- Treat a clear denial as the start of your deadline. The Commission filing deadline is 300 days, and the court filing deadline is generally three years.
- Before you sign a disability benefit application, read every statement about what you can and cannot do, and ask whether an accommodation would change the answer.
- If your condition changes and you can work again with help, make a new written request and keep proof that you made it.
- Talk to a lawyer before a deadline passes, not after you gather every piece of evidence.
If this is your situation, call Doubleday Law at (617) 575-2006 or tell us what happened. Deadlines for discrimination and employment claims can be short.
