Yes. In December 2024, the Appeals Court upheld the dismissal of an employer’s court challenge to a Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination retaliation award, because the employer never filed the motion the court required, despite repeated warnings. The judge did not have to reopen the case or look at the merits. This is an unpublished Appeals Court decision under Rule 23.0, which courts may cite as persuasive but not as binding precedent.
What happened
In 2011 a former employee filed a complaint with the MCAD. She said she was fired for making an internal complaint of sexual harassment after she overheard another employee make a sexually explicit comment. After a hearing, a single commissioner found the employer and two individuals jointly and severally liable for retaliation and ordered them to pay $25,000 for emotional distress and $6,940 in back pay. The full commission affirmed. The employer then sought review in the Superior Court. Once the MCAD filed the administrative record in July 2019, a court standing order gave the employer thirty days to file a motion for judgment on the pleadings. It did not. A judge extended the deadline to August 13, 2021, and it still did not file. The court then sent two orders warning that the case would be dismissed, got no response, and dismissed it in February 2022.
What the court decided
In Seaview Retreat, Inc. v. Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, No. 23-P-1272 (Mass. App. Ct. December 5, 2024) (Rule 23.0 decision), the Appeals Court affirmed the order denying the employer’s motion to undo the dismissal.
The review case. A party aggrieved by a final agency decision after a hearing may seek review in the Superior Court under G.L. c. 30A, § 14. That right comes with deadlines, and here the employer missed them.
The motion to reopen. After the MCAD moved in September 2022 for separate amended judgments, the employer moved for relief from the dismissal under Mass. R. Civ. P. 60 (b). Rule 60 (b) (1) allows relief for mistake, inadvertence, surprise or excusable neglect. Rule 60 (b) (6) allows relief for other reasons, but only in extraordinary circumstances. Owens v. Mukendi, 448 Mass. 66 (2006). The party asking for relief must justify its failure. The employer’s lawyer said he never received the October 2021 warning and that personal circumstances kept him from appearing in court during that period.
The Appeals Court held the judge did not abuse his discretion in denying relief:
- The judge did not have to believe that the lawyer missed the notice. The lawyer admitted he received every other notice, and his email and office address had not changed.
- Even if he missed that one notice, he knew about the August 2021 deadline. Being unable to appear in court did not explain why no motion was filed by the deadline or in the months before dismissal.
- The court had sent several warnings that the case would be dismissed, and no one responded.
A failure to receive notice may allow a judge to grant relief, but it does not force the judge to. The judge also did not have to reach the employer’s arguments on the merits.
What this means for you
If you win at the MCAD, your employer can ask a court to review the decision. This case shows that the employer has to pursue that challenge actively. An employer that lets court deadlines pass can lose its chance at review, and a judge does not have to give it a second one.
The decision also shows how long these cases can take. The complaint was filed in 2011, and the appeal ended in late 2024. Staying in touch with your lawyer, and making sure the court case keeps moving, matters even after you have won at the commission.
The same rules apply to workers. If you are the one challenging an agency decision or defending a judgment, missing a filing deadline can end your case, and blaming a missed email may not be enough to reopen it.
What to do now
- If you have an MCAD decision, keep a copy and note the date you received it.
- Ask your lawyer whether the other side has sought court review, and what deadlines apply.
- Watch the court docket yourself, and do not rely only on email notices.
- If you are thinking about an MCAD complaint, file within 300 days of the act you are challenging, as G.L. c. 151B, § 5 requires.
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.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
