A nondiscrimination notice posted on a school’s website does not, by itself, become a promise you can sue on as a contract. In a June 2025 case brought by a law student against his school, the Appeals Court also confirmed two other rules that trip up discrimination claims: a Massachusetts Civil Rights Act claim needs real threats, intimidation, or coercion, and most chapter 151B claims must start at the MCAD. This is an unpublished Appeals Court decision under Rule 23.0, which courts may cite as persuasive but not as binding precedent.
What happened
A law student sued the trustees of his law school in Superior Court. He claimed the school’s policies and climate violated the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act and the state antidiscrimination law, G.L. c. 151B. He also claimed the school broke a contract by failing to honor the “notice of nondiscrimination” it published online. A judge dismissed the civil rights and chapter 151B counts. A second judge later denied his motion to amend his complaint and granted the school summary judgment on the contract claim. He appealed.
What the court decided
The Appeals Court affirmed in Michelson v. Trustees of Boston College, No. 24-P-714 (Mass. App. Ct. June 6, 2025) (Rule 23.0 decision).
Civil Rights Act. G.L. c. 12, § 11I lets a person sue when someone interferes, or tries to interfere, with their rights by threats, intimidation, or coercion. The Supreme Judicial Court has defined each term. A threat is intentional pressure to make someone fear harm. Intimidation is putting someone in fear to make them act or stop acting. Coercion is force, physical or moral, that makes someone do something against their will. See Glovsky v. Roche Bros. Supermarkets, Inc., 469 Mass. 752 (2014). The student alleged biased policies and a campus where defending certain views was socially risky. The court said those were labels and conclusions, not facts showing threats, intimidation, or coercion. Feeling threatened is not enough.
Chapter 151B. Under Christo v. Edward G. Boyle Ins. Agency, Inc., 402 Mass. 815 (1988), a person must file a timely complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination before suing in court under G.L. c. 151B, § 9. The student never filed with the MCAD, so his claim for money and other relief was properly dismissed. Section 9 does allow a person to ask a court for temporary injunctive relief before or during an MCAD case, to prevent irreparable harm. But the judge had already denied his request for a preliminary injunction, and he did not challenge that ruling. So that part of the claim was moot.
Amending the complaint. The judge did not abuse her discretion by denying a late motion to amend. Summary judgment motions had already been filed and heard.
Contract. The court assumed a student and a school have a contract for an education. The question was whether that contract included a nondiscrimination term. A contract term needs mutual assent: both sides must agree to it. The student relied only on the fact that the school posted the notice online. He offered no evidence that he ever saw it, much less agreed to it. Without that, there was no contract term to enforce.
The court also refused to consider arguments the student raised for the first time on appeal. Those were waived.
What this means for you
The school won, and the lessons apply well beyond schools. If you work for an employer, rent from a landlord, or attend a school, a policy statement on a website is not automatically a promise to you. If you want to argue it is part of your deal, you need evidence that you saw it and agreed to it, or acted in a way that shows you accepted it.
The Civil Rights Act is powerful, and a prevailing plaintiff can recover attorney’s fees. But it is narrow. You must show specific acts of threats, intimidation, or coercion, not a hostile climate described in general terms.
Most important, chapter 151B has a front door: the MCAD. Under G.L. c. 151B, § 5, a complaint generally must be filed there within 300 days of the discrimination. Skip that step and your court case can be thrown out, no matter how strong the facts.
What to do now
- Write down dates. Note each act of discrimination and when it happened. The 300 day MCAD clock starts running from the discriminatory act.
- File with the MCAD on time, even if you plan to go to court later. Filing there is usually required before a chapter 151B lawsuit.
- If you need urgent protection, ask about temporary injunctive relief in court while the MCAD case is pending.
- Save copies of any policy, handbook, or notice you actually received or signed, and note when you got it.
- For a civil rights claim, record concrete facts: who said what, any threats, and any pressure used to stop you from exercising your rights.
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.
