Not under Massachusetts law. The Appeals Court held that a contract making a worker personally pay a company’s fees and damages for bringing a wage or misclassification claim violates the Wage Act and is unenforceable in Massachusetts, so it reversed an attorney’s fee award based on that contract. But the worker’s estate still had to pay a New York default judgment, which shows how costly it can be to ignore a lawsuit filed in another state. This is an unpublished Appeals Court decision under Rule 23.0, which courts may cite as persuasive but not as binding precedent.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 worker was hired to do insurance audits for a New York company. He says that after more than a month on the job he was told he had to become a “member” of a separate company to get paid. He signed papers saying he was not an employee, promising not to have any labor agency pursue a wage, overtime or other labor claim, and agreeing to be personally liable for any party’s expenses and damages if he did. The operating agreement also said the winner of any suit to enforce it could recover attorney’s fees. The worker went to the Massachusetts Attorney General anyway, and the company that hired him was found to have misclassified him as an independent contractor. That company then sued the membership company in New York, which brought the worker into the case. He did nothing, a default judgment entered, and the membership company came to Massachusetts to collect it.
What the court decided
In Group Management 0002, LLC v. Yong, No. 23-P-1342 (Mass. App. Ct. August 19, 2025) (Rule 23.0 decision), the Appeals Court affirmed in part and reversed the attorney’s fee award. The worker died while the appeal was pending, and his estate’s personal representative took his place.
The anti-SLAPP motion failed. Massachusetts law lets a party ask for quick dismissal of claims based on its petitioning activity, such as complaining to a government agency. G.L. c. 231, § 59H. The estate argued the case was really about the worker’s complaint to the Attorney General. The court disagreed. This was an action to enforce an out of state judgment, not a suit over the complaint itself.
The New York judgment had to be enforced. The United States Constitution requires each state to give full faith and credit to another state’s judgments. A state generally cannot refuse because it thinks the other court got the merits wrong. The main exception is when the other court lacked jurisdiction. V.L. v. E.L., 577 U.S. 404 (2016). The worker lost a New York motion to vacate the default and did not appeal. The estate argued that a default judgment does not decide issues never litigated. Treglia v. MacDonald, 430 Mass. 237 (1999). The court agreed with that rule but said it did not matter here. The case rested on the New York judgment itself, so nothing had to be relitigated, and summary judgment was proper.
The fee clause was illegal and unenforceable. The trial judge had also awarded the membership company $31,397.51 in attorney’s fees and costs for the Massachusetts case under the operating agreement. The Appeals Court reversed that award. The Wage Act says no one may exempt themselves from it by a special contract with an employee or by any other means. G.L. c. 149, § 148. That protection covers the right to bring a misclassification claim. G.L. c. 149, §§ 148B, 150. The court explained that an agreement to get around the Wage Act is illegal even if the worker signed it voluntarily. Melia v. Zenhire, Inc., 462 Mass. 164 (2012); Camara v. Attorney General, 458 Mass. 756 (2011). Illegal contracts are not enforced. Arcidi v. National Ass’n of Government Employees, Inc., 447 Mass. 616 (2006). The New York default did not change that, because the enforceability of the contract was never actually litigated there.
What this means for you
Some companies ask workers to sign papers calling them partners, members or independent contractors and promising never to file a wage claim. In Massachusetts, a promise like that does not stop you from going to the Attorney General or to court, and a Massachusetts court will not award a company its own fees under that kind of clause. But a judgment that another state’s court has already entered against you can still be enforced here, even one built on that clause.
The harder lesson is about ignoring lawsuits. Because the worker let a default enter in New York, the Massachusetts court had to enforce that judgment.
What to do now
- Keep copies of anything you sign to get hired or paid, including membership, partner or contractor agreements.
- If you think you were misclassified or underpaid, you can file a complaint with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Fair Labor Division.
- Never ignore court papers, even from another state. Get legal help before the deadline to respond.
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.
