Employers can’t fire employees for placing rebuttal in their personnel file after all

Last March, we wrote about a surprising ruling in which the Massachusetts Appeals Court concluded employers in the state aren’t legally prohibited from firing employees for exercising their right to file a rebuttal in response to a negative document placed in their personnel file (see “Exercising statutory right doesn’t invoke narrow public policy exception” in our March 2021 issue). The decision wasn’t unanimous, the dissenting opinion was persuasive, and the case attracted the attention of numerous legal organizations, which urged the state’s highest court, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), to review the appeals court’s ruling. Therefore, we cautioned employers to wait for a final decision before disciplining or terminating an employee based on a rebuttal.

Our advice was sound. Ultimately, the SJC agreed to consider the case and recently reversed the appeals court and ruled Massachusetts employees who exercise their right to file a rebuttal are protected from being terminated for doing so by state public policy. The decision is an incredible victory for employees and could create new challenges for employers.

Sales specialist submits lengthy rebuttal, immediately fired