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Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane Attorneys Find Favorable Decision in Appellate Court

 

Kevin Freytag and Michael Maccaro represented the Town of Natick (“Town”) regarding a dispute that arose out of a two year agreement between the Town and a committee of Natick town employee organizations known as the Public Employees Committee (“PEC”). The agreement was regarding an opt-out provision for health insurance which was a cash stipend given in place of health insurance for those that already had coverage from some other source. This employee opted out of an agreement for health insurance then brought suit claiming to be entitled to a cash stipend for the entire two year duration of the agreement even though the employee retired before the end of the first year of the two-year agreement.

 

Thomas E. Forance and Local 1707 of the International Association of Firefighters (“Local 1707”) filed an action that Florance was entitled to a cash stipend for the entire two-year period of the agreement and not just the time he was actually an employee in Natick. The town paid Forance a cash stipend that was prorated to the time that Forance was an employee and then deemed him ineligible to receive any additional benefits due to his status of no longer an employee of the town but a retiree.

 

Attorneys Freytag and Maccaro will be headed back to trial after the appellate court reversed the judgement on behalf of local 1707 and Forance, the judgement was vacated, thus bringing the case back for trial.

Latest News

Statutory Regulations Released for Interagency Review of Complex Cases

On March 1, 2024, EOHHS and DESE released the long-awaited, final adoption of the regulations governing the Interagency Review of Complex Cases (published as 101 CMR 27.00). These regulations had been anticipated since the Massachusetts Legislature passed “An Act Addressing Barriers to Care for Mental Health” in August, 2022. The purpose of the law is the establishment of a team that will collaborate on complex cases where there is an urgent need to address a lack of consensus between state agencies about the service needs or placement of an individual. This replaces what was known as the Unified Planning Team, or “UPT”. The co-chairs of the IRT will be the secretary (or a designee) from EOHHS and the commissioner (or a designee) of DESE.

Legal Updates

Statutory Regulations Released for Interagency Review of Complex Cases

On March 1, 2024, EOHHS and DESE released the long-awaited, final adoption of the regulations governing the Interagency Review of Complex Cases (published as 101 CMR 27.00). These regulations had been anticipated since the Massachusetts Legislature passed “An Act Addressing Barriers to Care for Mental Health” in August, 2022. The purpose of the law is the establishment of a team that will collaborate on complex cases where there is an urgent need to address a lack of consensus between state agencies about the service needs or placement of an individual. This replaces what was known as the Unified Planning Team, or “UPT”. The co-chairs of the IRT will be the secretary (or a designee) from EOHHS and the commissioner (or a designee) of DESE.

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