In this case, yes, because the employee got the information by going into a restricted database. The Appeals Court held that an employer did not violate the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act when it fired an employee for using her administrative access to open a salary spreadsheet and misleading her managers about it, because she was not fired for discussing pay. This is an unpublished Appeals Court decision under Rule 23.0, which courts may cite as persuasive but not as binding precedent.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 for the company for years and moved into its information technology department in 2021. That job gave her administrative passwords to databases most employees could not see, including a spreadsheet of employee salaries. In March 2023 she opened the spreadsheet and saw what she believed was a pay gap between her and a male coworker. She then raised pay with her interim manager and her manager. Both explained the salary structure, and the manager told her she was “going places” at the company. She told both managers she had learned about the gap from a conversation with a colleague, and did not mention the database. A few days later a coworker reported that she had told him she had snooped into his salary, the manager confirmed the access from login records, she admitted it, and the company fired her.
What the court decided
In Vivas v. EZCater, Inc., No. 25-P-1068 (Mass. App. Ct. July 8, 2026) (Rule 23.0 decision), the Appeals Court affirmed summary judgment for the employer.
The Massachusetts Equal Pay Act, G.L. c. 149, § 105A, protects pay transparency. An employer may not require you, as a condition of the job, to stay quiet about your own wages or anyone else’s. Under § 105A(c)(3)(iv), an employer also may not fire or retaliate against you because you disclosed your wages or asked about or discussed a coworker’s wages.
The court found three problems with the employee’s claim. First, she was not fired for discussing pay. Both managers listened to her concerns and took no action against her when she raised them. The firing came only after the company learned she had used her administrative access to open the salary file and had not told her managers the truth about how she learned about the gap.
Second, nothing in the Equal Pay Act stops an employer from protecting its databases from unauthorized access. The court added that this holds even if the employer has not adopted a policy under the part of the statute that lets employers bar workers with access to pay data from disclosing it without the other employee’s written consent. It pointed to other laws that call for protecting employee data, including G.L. c. 93H, § 2, and G.L. c. 266, § 120F, which makes it a crime to knowingly access a computer system without authorization.
Third, the employee could not show pretext. Under Bulwer v. Mount Auburn Hosp., 473 Mass. 672 (2016), an employee can survive summary judgment by offering evidence that the employer’s stated reasons were not the real reasons. Here the timeline cut against her. Her managers reassured her after she raised pay, and the firing followed only once the database access came to light. Speculation is not enough to get to a jury.
What this means for you
You have a real legal right to talk about pay in Massachusetts. You can ask a coworker what they make. You can tell others what you make. You can raise a pay gap with your manager. Your employer cannot punish you for any of that.
But that right covers talking, not taking. If your job gives you access to payroll or HR systems, that access is for your work. Using it to look up salaries for your own reasons can be treated as misconduct. The court also pointed to a state law that makes unauthorized computer access a crime. The Equal Pay Act will not protect you just because your reason was to find a pay gap.
Honesty mattered here too. The employee told her managers she learned about the gap from a conversation. When the truth came out, the employer could point to both the access and the misstatement as its reasons. That made it very hard to argue the firing was really about her pay questions.
If you suspect you are underpaid, there are safe ways to find out. Ask coworkers directly. Ask your manager or HR how pay is set. Write down what you learn and when.
What to do now
- Gather pay information the lawful way: ask coworkers, and keep your own pay stubs and offer letters.
- Raise your concern in writing to your manager or HR, and keep a copy with the date.
- Do not use work system access to look up other employees’ pay or personnel files.
- Be accurate about how you learned what you know. A false explanation can hurt your claim.
- If you are disciplined or fired after raising pay, talk to an employment lawyer quickly. Deadlines apply.
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.
