No. Massachusetts law forbids an employer from punishing you for opposing discrimination, including discrimination against someone else, and you can win a retaliation claim even if the underlying discrimination is never proven, as long as you reasonably and in good faith believed it was happening. The Supreme Judicial Court upheld a jury verdict for a longtime fire chief who faced a series of adverse actions, including administrative leave, after he complained that a female firefighter was treated worse than male firefighters, including $300,000 in compensatory damages and $1.1 million in punitive damages. This is a published decision of the Supreme Judicial Court and is binding statewide.
What happened
The plaintiff joined the town’s fire department in 1978 and became chief in 2003, with no prior discipline. His niece was hired as a probationary firefighter in 2013 and struggled in training. Because of conflict of interest concerns he had recused himself from her hiring and later from her training, but he complained in a letter to the town administrator, copied to the town’s board, that male firefighters with performance problems had been given extra training or counseling while she had not. Within months, the board refused to renegotiate his contract or give him a raise, town officials urged him to retire, the town hired an outside investigator, and after the town learned he appeared to have helped his niece with a discrimination complaint at the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, he was placed on administrative leave and escorted from the station. He was served with a notice to show cause why he should not be fired, and he resigned. A jury found the town liable for retaliation.
What the court decided
In Robinson v. Town of Marshfield, SJC-13825 (Mass. May 15, 2026), the court affirmed the judgment, including all damages, and the denial of the town’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or a new trial.
Under G.L. c. 151B, § 4 (4), it is unlawful to discharge, expel or otherwise discriminate against a person because he opposed practices the statute forbids. Following Verdrager v. Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo, P.C., 474 Mass. 382, 405 to 406 (2016), the employee must show a reasonable, good faith belief that the employer was discriminating, reasonable acts opposing it, an adverse action, and that the adverse action was a response to the opposition. A retaliation claim can succeed even if the discrimination claim fails. Here the discrimination agency found no probable cause on the niece’s complaint, and the chief still won.
The court found the evidence sufficient. In an overwhelmingly male department, evidence that male firefighters with deficiencies got extra training while his niece did not supported a reasonable belief in gender discrimination. The timing was important: within ten days of his first report, officials raised a possible ethics violation; about three months after his letter, the board declined to renew his contract; and about a month after the town connected him to the agency complaint, he was put on leave, a step the department had rarely used.
The court also held that the case should have been tried under the pretext framework alone, not the mixed motive framework, which under Wynn & Wynn, P.C. v. Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, 431 Mass. 655, 666 (2000), is reserved for rare cases with strong evidence of an illegitimate motive. The jury instructions blended the two. But the error, partly invited by both sides, was not prejudicial, because the jury expressly found a direct causal link and found the town’s conduct extreme and outrageous, which supported the punitive award.
What this means for you
You do not have to be the target of discrimination to be protected. If you speak up for a coworker, a relative or anyone else, and your employer turns on you for it, that can be retaliation. You also do not have to prove the discrimination actually happened. You need a reasonable, good faith belief that it did.
Retaliation is often proven through a pattern. A good record before the complaint, followed by a sudden string of investigations, denied raises, pressure to leave or unusual discipline, can let a jury infer the real reason. Your employer may point to a legitimate explanation, as the town did here with nepotism concerns. The jury decides which story to believe.
The decision also shows that punitive damages are available under Chapter 151B when a jury finds the retaliation extreme and outrageous.
What to do now
- Put your concern about discrimination in writing, and say specifically how people are being treated differently.
- Keep copies of your evaluations, contracts and any emails or letters showing how your employer treated you before and after you spoke up.
- Make a dated timeline of every action taken against you after your complaint.
- Be aware of deadlines. A complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination generally must be filed within 300 days of the discriminatory act.
- Talk with an employment discrimination lawyer before you resign or sign any separation papers.
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.
