Home Posts tagged Law (Page 24)

Chamber Corners: Upcoming Events

By
Court Dockets Departments

ACCGS
www.myonlinechamber.com
(413) 787-1555
 
• Sept. 23: ACCGS Pastries, Politics & Policy, 8-9 a.m. An informal roundtable discussion, designed for political and policy junkies. Cost: $15 for members, $25 for general admission, which includes continental breakfast. Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com.
• Sept. 30: Rake in the Business Table Top Showcase, 4:30-7 p.m. Hosted by Castle of Knights, 1599 Memorial Dr., Chicopee. Presented by the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield and the Greater Chicopee, Holyoke, and Westfield chambers of commerce. Network with more than 100 vendors. Cost: $5 in advance, $10 at the door.  Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com.
• Oct. 1: ACCGS Business@Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m. Hosted by Twin Hills Country Club, 700 Wolf Swamp Road, Longmeadow. Cost: $20 for members in advance, $25 for members at the door, $30 for general admission. Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com.
• Oct. 3: ERC5 Golf Classic. Registration, 11 a.m.; lunch, 11:30 a.m.; shotgun start, 12:30 p.m. Wilbraham Country Club, 859 Stony Hill Road, Wilbraham. Cost: $500 per foursome. Proceeds benefit the Minnechaug Regional High School Youth Entrepreneurial Scholars Program and the ERC5 Scholarship Fund. Reservations may be made online www.myonlinechamber.com.
• Oct. 8: ACCGS Lunch ‘n’ Learn, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Lattitude Restaurant, 1388 Memorial Ave., West Springfield. Liz Provo, authorized local representative for Constant Contact, will present “Social Media for Small Business Success.” Cost: $25 for members, $35 for general admission. Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com.
• Oct. 29: ACCGS Western Mass. Business Expo Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m., MassMutual Center, 1277 Main St., Springfield. Keynote speaker: Gov. Deval Patrick. Cost: $25 in advance, $30 at the door. Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com.
• Oct. 29: PWC Western Mass. Business Expo Headline Luncheon, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., MassMutual Center, 1277 Main St., Springfield. Keynote speaker: Patricia Diaz Dennis, retired senior vice president and assistant general counsel for AT&T. Cost: $40. Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com.
 
AMHERST AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.amherstarea.com
(413) 253-0700
 
• Oct. 1: Chamber Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, 5-6 p.m., hosted by Unitarian Universalist Society of America, 121 North Pleasant St., Amherst. Rededication of the Tiffany stained-glass window. Light hors d’oeuvres and refreshments. Event is free and open to the public.
• Oct. 2: 2014 Annual Awards Dinner, 5:30-9 p.m. (after-party to follow). Hosted by Hadley Farms Meeting House, 41 Russell St., Hadley. Join us in honoring the Rotary Club of Amherst, Stephanie O’Keeffe, and Tony Maroulis. Emceed by Monte Belmonte, 93.9 The River. Tickets are $75 per person or $700 for a table of 10. For more information, call Tammy-Lynn at (413) 253-0700 or e-mail [email protected].
• Oct. 9: Chamber Brown Bag, 12:30-2 p.m. Hosted by the Jones Library (Woodbury Room). Topic: “The Entrepreneurial Equation.” This event will give you ideas for putting banking, retirement, and insurance tools to work so you can help build and protect your business according to your short-and long-term goals. Presenter: Tom McRae, Edward Jones. Event is free and open to the public. Bring a lunch.
• Oct. 9: Chamber Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, 12:30-1 p.m., at Downtown Mindfulness, 67 North Pleasant St., Amherst. Join us in welcoming Downtown Mindfulness to the Amherst area. Light hors d’oeuvres and refreshments will be served. Event is free and open to the public.
• Oct. 24: Legislative Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m. Hosted by the Lord Jeffery Inn, 30 Boltwood Ave., Amherst. This is your chance to rub elbows with Amherst-area elected officials. Cost: $15 for chamber members, $20 for non-members. To RSVP, call Tammy-Lynn at (413) 253-0700 or e-mail [email protected].
 
FRANKLIN COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.franklincc.org
(413) 773-5463
 
• Sept. 26: Chamber Breakfast Series, 7:30-9 a.m., hosted by Franklin County Tech School, Turners Falls. Special presentation on United Way program. Cost: $13 for members, $15 for non-members. Contact the chamber at (413) 773-5463 to reserve your tickets.
 
GREATER CHICOPEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.chicopeechamber.org
(413) 594-2101
 
• Sept. 30: Table Top Expo & Business Networking Event, 4:30-7 p.m., Hosted by: Castle of Knights, 1599 Memorial Dr., Chicopee. Presented by the Greater Chicopee, Holyoke, and Westfield chambers of commerce and ACCGS. Cost: $5 pre-registered, $10 at the door. Register online at www.chicopeechamber.org.
• Oct. 9: Taking Care of Business, Workshop #3, “Human Resources: Best Practices for Small Businesses,” 9-11 a.m. Hosted by Hampton Inn, 600 Memorial Dr., Chicopee. Learn about recruitment and hiring, employee benefits and labor laws, and unemployment Insurance. Presenter: Employers Assoc. of the NorthEast. Cost: $20 for members, $30 for non-members.
• Oct. 15: Salute Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m. Hosted by the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House, 500 Easthampton Road, Holyoke. Cost: $20 for members, $26 for non-members.
• Oct. 23: Auction/Beer & Wine Tasting, 6-9 p.m., Delaney House, 3 Country Club Road, Holyoke. The public is welcome to attend and enjoy tastings from Kappy’s Liquors and Williams Distributing Corp., and delicious gourmet food by the Delaney House. Take some photos in the complimentary photo booth and bid on auction items such as gift baskets and gift certificates to area restaurants.
• Oct. 30: Taking Care of Business, Workshop #4: “How to Retain Your Top Talent,” 9-11 a.m. Hosted by Hampton Inn, 600 Memorial Dr., Chicopee. Learn about recruitment and turnover costs, production loss, and retraining. Presenter: James Percy, Willard Financial Group, LLC. Cost: $20 for members, $30 for non-members.
 
GREATER EASTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.easthamptonchamber.org
(413) 527-9414
 
• Oct. 9: Networking by Night Business Card Exchange, 5-7 p.m., hosted and co-sponsored by Eastworks & Riff’s Joint, 116 Pleasant St., Easthampton. Door prizes, hors d’ouevres, beer and wine. Cost: $5 for members, $15 for future members. RSVP requested.
• Oct. 20: Celebrity Bartenders Night, 6-9 p.m., at Opa-Opa Steakhouse & Brewery, 169 College Highway, Southampton. Join us for a night of fun with local celebrities mixing drinks. Let us know if you are interested in bartending! Cash bar, raffles, and fun. Tips and donations benefit the chamber’s downtown Holiday Lighting Fund. Admission: free. 
• Oct. 23: Workforce Training Speaker Breakfast, part of the chamber’s Speaker Series 2014. Hosted by Southampton Country Club, 329 College Highway, Southampton. Come and learn about available state funding for employee training and technical assistance for any size business. Cost: $15 for chamber members, $20 for non-members. Call the chamber to sign up. Seating is limited.
 
GREATER HOLYOKE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.holycham.com
(413) 534-3376
 
• Sept. 30: Table Top Showcase, 4:30-7 p.m., hosted by Chicopee Castle of Knights. Four area chambers — Greater Holyoke, Greater Chicopee, Greater Westfield, and the ACCGS — are getting together to present a table top mini-trade show. Tables cost $125. Visitor cost is $10 in advance, $15 at the door. Call (413) 534-3376 to secure a table, or sign up online at holyokechamber.com.
• Oct. 3: Manufacturing Business Breakfast, 8-10 a.m. (7:45 a.m. registration), PeoplesBank Conference Room, Kittredge Center, Holyoke Community College. Join us for a continental breakfast and networking opportunity to celebrate manufacturing. Guests include Eric Nakajima, assistant secretary of Housing and Economic Development; David Gadaire of CareerPoint, Jeffrey Hayden of Holyoke Community College, and state Rep. Aaron Vega. Cost: $10, which includes a continental breakfast. Call (413) 534-3376 to sign up, or visit holyokechamber.com.
• Oct. 7, 21: Nov. 5: Ask a Chamber Expert Series: “How to Start and Maintain Your Own Business.” Get your business on the right track and join us for this member-taught, 10-class workshop series. Workshop schedule: Oct. 7, “Creating a Business Plan”; Oct. 21, “Learning the Law”; Nov. 5, “Insurance.” All workshops are held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Holyoke Chamber of Commerce at 177 High St., and include light refreshments. Cost: $20 per session for members, or $175 for 10 classes. To sign up, call the chamber at (413) 534-3376 or visit holyokechamber.com.
• Oct. 8: Autumn Business Breakfast, 7:30-9 a.m., at the Log Cabin. Sponsored by the Republican and Holyoke Medical Center. Recognition of new members and business milestones, and networking breakfast meeting. Cost: $22 for members in advance, $28 for non-members and at the door. For reservations, call the chamber at (413) 534-3376.
• Oct. 15: Chamber After Hours, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Westfield Bank, 1642 Northampton St., Holyoke. Business networking event to take place under the tent. Food, networking, 50/50 raffle, and door prizes. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for the public. To sign up, call the chamber at (413) 534-3376 or visit holyokechamber.com.
 
GREATER NORTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.explorenorthampton.com
(413) 584-1900
 
• Oct. 1: Annual Open House, 5-7 p.m., hosted by the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce, 99 Pleasant St., Northampton. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members.
• Oct. 8: “Make the Web Work for You,” 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Hosted by Greenfield Savings Bank, Community Room, 325 King St., Northampton. Presented by Tina Stevens of Stevens 470. Cost: $20 for members, $25 for non-members. RSVP required; space limited.
• Oct. 10: “Tips, Tricks, & Shortcuts,” 9-11 a.m., hosted by the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce, 99 Pleasant St., Northampton. Sponsosr: Pioneer Training. Special guest: Don Lesser. This workshop contains a variety of quick tips and tricks in Microsoft Word that will save you hours of time. Cost: $20 for members, $25 for non-members. RSVP; space limited.
 
GREATER WESTFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.westfieldbiz.org
(413) 568-1618

• Sept. 30: 17th Annual Table Top Showcase, 4:30-7 p.m., hosted by Castle of Knights, Chicopee. Opportunities include sponsorships and exhibitor tables. Cost: $5 in advance through chamber, $10 at the door. For more information, call Pam at the chamber office, (413) 568-1618.
• Oct. 6: Mayor’s Coffee Hour, 8-9 a.m., hosted by Tekoa Country Club, Westfield. Join Mayor Dan Knapik for an informal talk on Westfield. Free and open to the public, but call Pam at the chamber to register, (413) 568-1618.
• Oct. 8: After 5 Connection, 5-7 p.m., hosted by East Mountain Country Club, Westfield. Great connection opportunities, including speed connecting. Complimentary hors d’oeuvres, cash bar. Walk-ins welcome. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members (cash at the door). To register, call Pam at the chamber at (413) 568-1618.
• Oct. 14: Lunch & Lecture Series #3, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., hosted by Noble Hospital, Conference Room A, Westfield. Topic: “Retirement & Investments for Business.” Presented by Tim Flynn of Edward Jones Investments. Cost: free to chamber members, $25 for non-members. For more information, call Pam at the chamber office, (413) 568-1618.
• Oct. 20: Speaker Series (2 of 3), “Common and Costly Employment-law Mistakes Made by Small Businesses,” 8-9:15 a.m., presented by Royal, LLC. Hosted by Genesis Spiritual Life & Conference Center, Westfield. Cost: free to chamber members, $25 for non-members. For more information, call Pam at the chamber office, (413) 568-1618.
 
PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S CHAMBER
www.professionalwomenschamber.com
(413) 755-1310
 
• Sept. 24: PWC Headline Luncheon, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., hosted by Yankee Pedlar Inn, 1866 Northampton St., Holyoke. Keynote speaker: Jane Iredale, founder, president, and CEO of Iredale Mineral Cosmetics. Cost: $25 for PWC members, $35 for general admission. Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com.
• Oct. 14: PWC Ladies Night, 5-7 p.m. Complimentary wine, refreshments, and networking. Reservations are complimentary but suggested, by contacting Dawn Creighton at [email protected] or (413) 530-0545.
 
WEST OF THE RIVER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.ourwrc.com
(413) 426-3880
 
• Oct. 1: Wicked Wednesday, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Westfield Bank, Agawam. Cost: free for chamber members, $10 at the door for non-members. Event is open to the public. Wicked Wednesdays are monthly social events, hosted by various businesses and restaurants, that bring members and non-members together to network in a laid-back atmosphere. For more information, contact the chamber office at (413) 426-3880 or [email protected].
• Oct. 2: West Springfield Candidates Forum, 6-8 p.m., hosted by West Springfield Town Hall, 26 Central St. For the first half of this state representatives debate, questions will be solicited in advance from WRC members and the general public. The second half of the debate will be performed in the Lincoln-Douglas format, where candidates will have the opportunity to pose questions to each other.
• Oct. 9: Agawam Candidates Forum, 6-9 p.m., hosted by Roberta G. Doering School, 68 Main St., Agawam. For the first half of this state representatives / state Senate debate, questions will be solicited in advance from WRC members and the general public. The second half of the debate will be performed in the Lincoln-Douglas format, where candidates will have the opportunity to pose questions to each other.
• Oct. 15: Networking Lunch, noon to 1:30 p.m., hosted by Crestview Country Club, Agawam. Enjoy a sit-down lunch while networking with fellow chamber members. Each attendee will get a chance to offer a brief sales pitch. You must be a member or guest of a member to attend. The only cost to attend is the cost of lunch. Attendees will order off the menu and pay separately that day. We cannot invoice you for these events.
For more information, contact the chamber office at (413) 426-3880 or email [email protected].
• Oct. 16: Breakfast Meeting, 7-9 a.m., hosted by Lattitude, West Springfield. The featured emcee is political consultant Anthony Signoli, speaking on the potential casino and how it may affect local business and the general public. Cost: $25 for chamber members, $30 for non-members. For more information, contact the chamber office at (413) 426-3880 or email [email protected].

Court Dockets

By
Court Dockets Departments

The following is a compilation of recent lawsuits involving area businesses and organizations. These are strictly allegations that have yet to be proven in a court of law. Readers are advised to contact the parties listed, or the court, for more information concerning the individual claims.

FRANKLIN SUPERIOR COURT
Gregory J. Caulto and Jonathan David Lavietes v. John W. Dewitt and Lisa Paterno Dewitt d/b/a JW Dewitt Business Communications
Allegation: Breach of contract and non-payment of services rendered: $57,421
Filed: 8/4/14

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT
Axia Insurance Co. v. Kenneth Hark and LJM Insurance Agency Inc.
Allegation: Breach of contract, breach of duty, conversion, unjust enrichment: $250,000
Filed: 7/18/14

Joseph Miller v. People’s Savings Bank
Allegation: Breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, conversion: $35,000
Filed: 7/23/14

NUVO Bank and Trust Co. v. RIG Rest, LLC f/k/a Airedock Systems, LLC and Paul Gelinas
Allegation: Breach of contract on commercial promissory note: $209,759.63
Filed: 8/13/14

HOLYOKE DISTRICT COURT
Mountainview Landscapes and Lawncare v. Bassette Printers, LLC and Bassette Realty, LLC
Allegation: Non-payment of services rendered for winter upkeep of property: $6,121
Filed: 7/28/14

PALMER DISTRICT COURT
Gregorio Santiago v. The Hanover Insurance Co.
Allegation: Failure to effectuate a prompt, fair, and equitable settlement: $21,745.44
Filed: 7/21/14

SPRINGFIELD DISTRICT COURT
Comcast Spotlight Inc. v. Centaurian Dental Inc. d/b/a Columbia Family Dental
Allegation: Non-payment of advertising services rendered: $14,904.75
Filed: 7/25/14

Freedom Credit Union v. Theresa A. Welch and Michael Welch d/b/a Floral Dynamics
Allegation: Non-payment of promissory note: $11,727.54
Filed: 7/25/14

Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. v. Sambrico, LLC d/b/a Vista Home Improvement
Allegation: Non-payment of workers’ compensation policy: $23,453.23
Filed: 8/6/14

Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. v. Milford Hardwood Floors Inc.
Allegation: Non-payment of workers’ compensation policy: $12,141.27
Filed: 8/6/14

Springfield Plumbing Supply Co. Inc. v. Michael J. Swayger d/b/a Swayger Plumbing
Allegation: Non-payment of goods sold and delivered: $10,674.37
Filed: 7/23/14

U. S. Foods Inc. v. MGB Inc. d/b/a Electric Café and Margaret Buxold
Allegation: Non-payment of goods sold and delivered: $9,137.30
Filed: 7/28/14

Seven Robinson Donovan Attorneys Named to ‘Best Lawyers’

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Robinson Donovan, P.C. announced that seven of its attorneys will be included in the 2015 edition of the prestigious national guide Best Lawyers in America.

Robinson Donovan attorneys were included in a number of categories, with three lawyers earning additional Lawyer of the Year recognition for their practice area. Only one lawyer in each practice area in each community is eligible to be named Lawyer of the Year. The Robinson Donovan honorees include:

• Richard Gaberman: corporate law; real estate law, commercial; tax certiorari; tax law; trusts and estates (23rd consecutive year); Lawyer of the Year, real-estate law. Also previous Lawyer of the Year award for trusts and estates

• James Martin: franchise law, automobile dealerships; real-estate law, franchise

• Jeffrey McCormick: personal-injury litigation, automobile collision; catastrophic injury; civil litigation; ethics and professional responsibility; insurance; medical malpractice; premises liability; professional malpractice

• Carla Newton: family law; Lawyer of the Year, family law

• Nancy Frankel Pelletier: personal-injury law, defendants (10th consecutive year)

• Patricia Rapinchuk: employment law, management; litigation, labor and employment; Lawyer of the Year, employment law, management

• Jeffrey Roberts: corporate law; trusts and estates; also previous Lawyer of the Year award for trusts and estates

For more than 30 years, Best Lawyers has been regarded, by both the legal profession and the public, as the definitive guide to legal excellence in the U.S. The 2015 volume of Best Lawyers, the 21st edition, is based on a rigorous evaluation process that included thousands of clients, highly skilled lawyers, and law-firm representatives.

Elms College MBA Program Offers Forensic Accounting Certificate

By
Daily News

CHICOPEE — The MBA Program at Elms College is offering an advanced graduate-studies certificate program in forensic accounting to prepare accounting professionals, auditors, and law-enforcement personnel who may support litigation teams on cases related to economic fraud.

Forensic accounting is a specialized field of financial detective work that assists law enforcement in the investigation of white-collar crime. It is one of the fastest-growing areas of accounting, according to a report by industry analyst IBISWorld. This type of complex accounting examination expands far beyond a typical audit and demands a specialized skill set in forensic-accounting expertise.

Consisting of five courses, the Elms College MBA program in forensic accounting combines accounting knowledge with auditing and investigative skills to view the reality of the whole business situation. This graduate certificate program requires a bachelor’s degree in accounting or a related field, with a minimum of two years exposure to accounting practices. The program provides an understanding of what forensic accounting and fraud examination are and the role an accountant plays in these examinations; how to use information technology to uncover fraud; and how to conduct, manage, and document a forensic engagement. The program is taught by industry executives on the front lines of managing forensic engagements.

“If you already have an accounting MBA, only four courses are needed to complete the certificate,” said Kimberly Kenney-Rockwal, director of MBA Programs at Elms. Also, completion of the introductory course “Principles of Forensic Accounting” may be applied toward an Elms MBA. For more information, visit www.elms.edu/mbaforensic.

Royal LLP Launches New Website

By
Daily News

NORTHAMPTON — Royal LLP, the woman-owned, boutique, management-side labor and employment law firm, is pleased to announce the launch of its new website, www.royalllp.com, boasting a fresh look and user-friendly navigation, and updated with the latest information about the firm’s services.

“We hope that you will enjoy browsing our new site and that it will be yet another tool to help keep your business informed of important information in a timely manner,” said Amy Royal, founding partner.

Attorney Michael Gove Adds Ludlow Office

By
Daily News

LUDLOW — Attorney Michael Gove, of Gove Law Office LLC in Northampton, recently announced that he has purchased a law practice in Ludlow and will open a second office in that community, his hometown. Gove’s 10-year-old practice concentrates on business and corporate law, real-estate transactions, and estate planning.

On Sept. 2, Gove assumed ownership of Thompson & Bell of Ludlow, the business formerly operated by the late James “Jason” Thompson and his associate, Gregory Bell. Bell and Gove will work together to cover the Ludlow and Northampton offices; in addition, the Ludlow office will also handle bankruptcy and personal-injury law.

Gove grew up in Ludlow and has been friends with Thompson’s son Sean since middle school. After the elder Thompson unexpectedly passed away in April, Gove was invited by the Thompson family to take over the practice.

Gove said he met Jason Thompson when Gove was a student at Ludlow High School in the late 1990s. Thompson was the town moderator at the time, and Gove was an elected representative to Ludlow Town Meeting. Gove later served as chair of the Ludlow Democratic Committee, represented Ludlow at the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, and chaired the Ludlow Cultural Council. “Jason Thompson was somebody I looked up to as a leader in our community,” he said. “I am honored to be taking over his practice.”

Gove earned his law degree from Boston College School of Law in 2004, after graduating cum laude from UMass Amherst in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Assoc., the Hampden County Bar Assoc., the Hampshire County Bar Assoc., the Connecticut Bar Assoc., the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield, and the Northampton Assoc. of Young Professionals.

Gove has also served on many area nonprofit boards and presently serves as a corporator of the Horace Smith Fund, which grants scholarships for Hampden County residents pursuing a college or graduate education. He also volunteers for Cooley Dickinson Hospital and serves on the board of Best Buddies of Western Massachusetts. In 2012 and 2013, Gove was selected as a Massachusetts Rising Star by Super Lawyers, a designation earned by no more than 2.5% of lawyers in Massachusetts.

Bell is a 1983 graduate of Western New England College School of Law. He concentrates in residential and commercial real estate, consumer bankruptcy, probate administration, and personal-injury law.

For more information, visit www.govelawoffice.com or call Gove at (413) 570-3170 or Bell at (413) 583-5196.

State Unveils One-stop Web Portal for Municipal Grants

By
Daily News

BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration has unveiled a new web portal for cities and towns to easily identify grant opportunities that could benefit their communities. The Municipal Grant Finder (mass.gov/municipalgrants) is a one-stop web shop for local officials and residents to learn about grant opportunities across state government, regardless of which state agency manages a grant program.

“Through the new Municipal Grant Finder, the Patrick administration is continuing its commitment to provide resources to help our municipal partners deliver core services to their communities,” said Secretary of Administration and Finance Glen Shor.

The web portal will highlight what resources exist and where to find them, as management of these grants and resources is decentralized among a multitude of state government agencies. The Municipal Grant Finder will help them navigate state government by succinctly profiling more than 60 funding and support opportunities for cities and towns. To use the Municipal Grant Finder, a local official simply selects the appropriate category and is presented with a list of available resources. The user is then connected to detailed information about the grant, the available funding, how to apply, and contact information.

Local officials no longer need to know which of the Commonwealth’s many state agencies manage a specific grant program. With a few clicks, the Municipal Grant Finder can help a local official identify training to enhance local public-safety responses to complex emergencies; resources to rehabilitate abandoned and vacant property in a community; funding to reduce the municipal solid waste and household hazardous waste in the general waste-disposal stream; a program to support residents transitioning from renting to purchasing a home for the first time; funding for renovations to a local library; financial support to mitigate the cost of adding a local transit station; and a grant to convert an old railway line to a scenic recreation trail.

Working together, the Patrick administration and the Commonwealth’s municipalities have already achieved real, meaningful savings and structural changes to keep costs down so municipalities can make the necessary investments in community services that keep them thriving. Municipal healthcare reform is providing significant and immediate savings to cities and towns, and 257 communities and school districts across Massachusetts have already collectively saved more than $247 million in health-insurance premiums over the past three years as a result of the landmark municipal healthcare reform law signed by Patrick in July 2011.

Including municipal healthcare reform, Patrick said, his administration has provided cities and towns with the tools to realize $3.78 billion in savings, revenue, and investments through new local-option taxes, increased capital investments, and pension reforms. Communities are also achieving savings through innovations achieved through the Community Innovation Challenge Grant and municipal performance-management programs.

Opinion

By
Opinion
Electricity Grid Bending, and Might Break

By MARC BROWN
For the past two years, New England has seen its energy rates rise from $.036 per kWh in 2012 to $.056 per kWh in 2013 — more than a 50% increase. New England ratepayers paid an additional $3 billion for the energy we consumed last winter, and as a result of capacity shortages in the most recent auction, we will be doling out an additional $1.8 billion in payments to generators just to be available.

The regional organization which oversees our energy grid, ISO New England, has repeatedly warned us of our overreliance on natural gas for electricity generation, which currently accounts for more than half of our capacity. Add to that 8,000 megawatts of expected-to-retire generation over the next decade, and New England is looking at a real future capacity shortfall — a gap that all of the energy efficiency, conservation, and demand response in the world won’t be able to close.

Rightfully, ISO’s warnings have led to panic among the region’s legislators and bureaucrats — ironic, considering that they and their predecessors supported, promoted, and enacted policies that have led us to our current situation — as well as high prices and dwindling base-load capacity. Policies like renewable portfolio standards, the renewable greenhouse-gas initiative, net metering, and others have favored expensive, intermittent renewable power at the expense of more affordable and reliable base-load options.

We are going to need new base-load generation to power our homes, businesses, hospitals, and schools. Unfortunately, the way the energy markets are designed offer little incentive for new investment. Capacity markets are too shallow (three years) and are subject to price caps that are in place to protect ratepayers, but in the long run may do more harm than good. Extending capacity to five, six, seven, or more years might be enough incentive to bring new capacity into the region. It may also provide some financial security to natural-gas electricity generators, allowing them to make longer-term fuel commitments, which in turn should spur private investment in new natural-gas pipelines. Ratepayers could ultimately benefit from a market that trades higher capacity payments for lower energy payments.

New Hampshire’s Northern Pass (1,200 MW) and the Footprint natural-gas plant in Salem (700 MW) are two projects that could bring much-needed base-load power to New England, but both have been met with opposition. Footprint, whose future is in question, has been opposed by environmental groups like the Conservation Law Foundation because it is a fossil-fuel generator, despite the fact that it emits half of the CO2 and none of the SOX of the plant that it would replace. Northern Pass has been opposed by myriad environmental groups, as well as the New England Power Generators Assoc. (NEPGA), a trade organization representing the owners of more than 100 electric power plants in New England who control more than 80% of New England’s generating capacity.

NEPGA’s responsibility is to advocate for its membership, many of whom have benefited from the high prices that have hit ratepayers the past two winters. ISO’s day-ahead electricity auction is a “clearing auction,” which means that all generators who clear the market receive the marginal (or highest) cleared rate. For example, if a 1,000-MW generator bids into the market at $20 per megawatt hour to cover its cost of generation and the market clears at $50 per MWh, the generator will make $30 per MWh in profit, or $720,000 for that day. During a cold week this past January when the average day-ahead price exceeded $262 per MWh, a 1000-MW generator would have received more than $44 million in energy payments alone.

New Englanders are looking for relief from high energy costs, regulators are looking to ensure reliability, and, despite their poor track record, policy makers are looking to address our long-term energy needs. Sooner, rather than later, New England is going to need more base-load electricity to replace retirements.

The Farmers’ Almanac is predicting another bitterly cold winter for New Englanders. Vermont Yankee and its 600 MW (600,000 homes) will be powering down for good at the end of December. Run to your local hardware store and get your generator now, because, if January 2015 is as frigid as January 2014, rolling blackouts might be in our future — and while not all of us will be surprised, some of us will have a lot of explaining to do.

Marc Brown is the executive director of the New England Ratepayers Assoc., the nonprofit dedicated to protecting ratepayers in New England.

Cough Today, Get Paid Tomorrow

By
Business Management Sections
Mandatory Paid Sick Leave on the Horizon for Many Employers

By JOHN S. GANNON

This November promises to be an exciting — and important — time for the Commonwealth. The state will elect a new governor, a Massachusetts seat in the U.S. Senate is up for grabs, and a ballot question will ask voters whether they want to vote down a 2011 law allowing resort casinos to operate in the state. Given these hot ticket items, it’s easy to overlook other voting initiatives.

However, employers should pay particular attention to Question 4, the Massachusetts Paid Sick Days Initiative.

John Gannon

John Gannon

If approved by voters, the measure will require employers to provide certain employees with several sick days each year. Various federal and state laws already require unpaid job-protected leave, such as the Family Medical Leave Act, the Massachusetts Maternity Leave Act, and the Small Necessities Leave Act. The difference with this new measure is that most employers would be required to pay employees for their time off.

History of Paid Sick Leave

Connecticut made history in 2011 when it became the first state in the country to require employers to provide paid sick leave. However, the law did not reach all employers or employees.

Employers with fewer than 50 employees were exempt from the law. In addition, paid leave was required to be provided only to non-exempt service workers. The law was predominantly focused on protecting low-wage workers in the service and retail industries. Since then, many cities have adopted similar measures. There are currently sick-leave laws on the books in San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and New York City.

In Massachusetts, similar versions of paid-sick-leave laws were proposed in the Legislature, but none reached a final vote. This year, sick-leave supporters abandoned the legislative route in favor of a ballot strategy. They delivered enough signatures to the State House to get a question about paid sick leave on the 2014 ballot.

The Ballot Question

The law proposed on the statewide ballot would entitle employees in Massachusetts to earn and use up to 40 hours of sick time. The amount of time off, and whether it needs to be paid, varies depending on the size of the employer.  Individuals working for smaller businesses with fewer than 11 employees would be able to earn and use up to 40 hours of unpaid sick time. Employers with 11 or more employees would have to provide these 40 hours of sick time as paid leave. Unlike Connecticut, the law generally applies to all employees regardless of job duties.

The law provides three scenarios where an employee could use earned sick time. Leave could be used (1) to care for a physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition affecting the employee or the employee’s child, spouse, parent, or parent of a spouse; (2) to attend routine medical appointments of the employee or the employee’s child, spouse, parent, or parent of a spouse; or (3) to address the effects of domestic violence on the employee or the employee’s dependent child. Employees would earn one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked, and would begin accruing those hours on the date of hire or on July 1, 2015, whichever is later. Employees could begin to use earned sick time after working 90 days.

Carryover of unused sick time to the next calendar year would be permitted, but the employee could not use more than 40 hours in a calendar year. Unlike unused vacation, employers would not have to pay employees for unused sick time at the end of their employment.

Do They Have to Prove It?

One issue that concerns employers is whether employees have to back up their need for time off. The new law states that employers can require certification of the need for sick time if an employee uses more than 24 consecutive hours of sick leave.

Any “reasonable documentation” signed by a healthcare provider must be accepted as sufficient certification of the need for leave, and employers are prohibited from demanding that the documentation explain the nature of the illness. However, it is unclear whether employers can require medical documentation for shorter absences pursuant to company policy.

Finally, when employees are aware in advance of the need for earned sick time, they must make a good-faith effort to notify the employer beforehand. The law does not suggest how much advance notice should be provided.

Bottom Line

Many employers, particularly small businesses, oppose the sick-time mandate.  Some are already operating on thin margins, and paid-leave requirements would undoubtedly add to growing labor expenses. Those in favor of the law contend that employees should not have to choose between coming to work sick and getting paid.

Recently, the debate has transcended employer groups. Last week Democrat Martha Coakley criticized gubernatorial rival Republican Charlie Baker for his opposition to the ballot question.

If you need assistance revising or adopting your employee-leave policies, contact experienced labor and employment counsel.


John S. Gannon is an associate with Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C., and practices in the firm’s Springfield office. Since joining the firm in 2011, he has defended employers against claims of discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wrongful-termination claims, as well as actions arising under the Family Medical Leave Act and wage-and-hour laws. He also has experience with lawsuits seeking to enforce restrictive covenants and protect trade secrets; (413) 737-4753; [email protected]

Chamber Corners: Upcoming Events

By
Chamber Corners Departments

AFFILIATED CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE OF GREATER SPRINGFIELD
www.myonlinechamber.com
(413) 787-1555

• Sept. 10: ERC5/ACCGS Millfest After 5, 5 p.m. to dusk, at Ludlow Mills, 100 State St., Ludlow. Tickets are $15 for members, $25 for general admission.

• Sept. 23: ACCGS Pastries, Politics & Policy, 8-9 a.m.
An informal roundtable discussion, designed for political and policy junkies. Reservations are $15 for members, $25 for general admission, which includes continental breakfast. Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com.

• Sept. 30: Rake in the Business Table Top Showcase, 4:30-7 p.m., at the Castle of Knights, 1599 Memorial Dr., Chicopee. Network with more than 100 vendors. Reservations are $5 in advance, $10 at the door.  Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com.

GREATER CHICOPEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.chicopeechamber.org
(413) 594-2101

• Sept. 10: CEO Luncheon at the Munich Haus Restaurant. Registration at 11:45, lunch at noon. Network and hear from Eric Lapointe, executive vice president of the Springfield Falcons, who recently joined the organization and oversees all revenue-generating functions of the team. Tickets are $25 for members, $30 for general admission.

• Sept. 17: Salute Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m., at the Collegian Court, 89 Park St., Chicopee. Tickets are $20 for members, $26 for non-members.
• Sept. 25: The “Taking Care of Business,” series continues with “Negotiating and Understanding Leases,” 9-11 a.m.,  at the Residence Inn by Marriott, 500 Memorial Dr., Chicopee. Sponsored by Common Capital. Cost is $20 for members, $30 for non-members.

• Sept. 30:  Table Top Expo & Business Networking Event, 4:30-7 p.m., at the Castle of Knights, 1599 Memorial Dr. in Chicopee. Presented by the Greater Chicopee, Holyoke, and Westfield chambers of commerce and ACCGS. Tickets are $5 pre-registered, $10 at the door. Sign up at www.chicopeechamber.org.

GREATER EASTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.easthamptonchamber.org
(413) 527-9414

• Sept. 11: Networking By Night Business Card Exchange, 5-7 p.m., at the Look Park Garden House, 300 North Main St., Florence. Sponsored by Residential Mortgage Services. Door prizes, hors d’ouevres, host beer and wine. Tickets: $5 for members, $15 for future members. RSVP requested.

• Sept. 12-13: Electronic recycling fund-raiser, Sept. 12, 1-4 p.m.; Sept. 13, 8:30 to noon. Dropoff location at Liberty and Mechanic streets, Easthampton. Sponsored by Duseau Trucking LLC and A-Z Storage  & Properties. Proceeds to benefit the chamber’s programs, including the Holiday Lighting Fund. Responsibly dispose of your old computers, monitors, TVs, telephones, stereos, and office or home appliances. No registration required; open to all members of  the Greater Easthampton community. Nominal recycling fees. We cannot accept refrigerators, freezers, dehumidifiers, or any appliances containing freon. For more information, contact the chamber.

GREATER HOLYOKE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.holycham.com
(413) 534-3376

• Sept. 10: Legislative Coffee Hour, 7:45-9 a.m., at Slainte Restaurant, 80 Jarvis Ave., Holyoke, featuring guest speakers Mayor Alex Morse, City Council President Kevin Jourdain, and City Treasurer Jon Lumbra. Sponsored by Ferriter Law and Marcotte Ford. Tickets are $18 for members, $25 at the door and for non-members.

• Sept. 17: Annual Outing Clambake, 5:30-8 p.m., at Holyoke Country Club, 3 Country Club Road, Holyoke. Lobster dinner, putting contest, raffle prizes, 50/50 raffle, chowder cookoff. Sponsored by United Water, Pioneer Valley Railroad, and CareerPoint. Tickets are $30 for members and advance reservations, and $40 for non-members and at the door. The public is invited to attend.

• Sept. 30: Table Top Showcase, 4:30-7 p.m., at the Castle of Knights in Chicopee. Four area chambers — Greater Holyoke, Greater Chicopee, Greater Westfield, and the ACCGS — are getting together to present a tabletop mini-trade show. Tables cost $125. Visitors pay $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Call the Holyoke Chamber at (413) 534-3376 to secure a table, or sign up online at holyokechamber.com.

GREATER NORTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.explorenorthampton.com
(413) 584-1900

• Sept. 10: Northampton Chamber Monthly Arrive @5, 5-7 p.m. Arrive when you can, stay as long as you can. Sponsors: Greenfield Savings Bank, Hathaway Farms, and United Personnel. Tickets are $10 for members, $15 for non-members.

• Sept. 11: 2014 Workshop: “Introduction to Google Docs,” 9-11 a.m. at Pioneer Training, 139B Damon Road, Northampton. Pre-registration is required, and space is limited. Tickets are $20 for members, $25 for non-members. To register, e-mail [email protected].

GREATER WESTFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.westfieldbiz.org
(413) 568-1618

• Sept. 8: Chamber Open House, 4-7 p.m., at the Greater Westfield Chamber, 16 North Elm St., Westfield. Help us celebrate our new location by stopping in to see our new office. Refreshments will be served.

• Sept. 9: Lunch & Lecture Series 1, presented by Tim Flynn, AAMS, Edward Jones Investments, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., at Noble Hospital, Conference Room A, Westfield. Topic: “Retirement and Investments for Business.” Cost: free to chamber members, $25 for non-members, or $60 for all three in the series. For more information, call Pam at the chamber office at (413) 568-1618.

• Sept. 10: After 5 Connection, 5-7 p.m., at the Holiday Inn Express, 39 Southampton Road, Westfield. Sponsored by Advanced Medical Consulting and Billing. Complimentary refreshments provided. Walk-ins are welcome. Cost is $10 for members, $15 for non-members (cash at the door). To register, call Pam at the chamber office at (413) 568-1618.

• Sept. 15: Speaker Series, part 1 of 3. “Legal Issues Affecting Business,” presented by Royal LLP, 8-9:15 a.m., at the Genesis Spiritual Life & Conference Center, Westfield. Cost: free to chamber members, $25 for non-members, or $60 for all three in the series. For more information, call Pam at the chamber office, (413) 568-1618.

• Sept. 19: September Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m., at the 104th Fighter Wing ANG, 175 Falcon Dr., Westfield. Sponsors: Platinum, Westfield Bank; Gold, Savage Arms; Silver, Prolamina and Wealth Technology Group. Speaker: Dr. Alan Robinson,  co-author of The Idea-Driven Organization. Cost is $25 for members, $30 for non-members. To register, call Pam at the chamber office at (413) 568-1618. Consider donating a raffle prize to the event.

• Sept. 30: 17th Annual Table Top Showcase, 4:30-7 p.m., at the Castle of Knights, Chicopee. Cost: $5 in advance through the chamber or $10 at the door. Opportunities available for sponsorships and exhibitor tables. For more information, call Pam at the chamber office at (413) 568-1618.

PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S CHAMBER
www.professionalwomenschamber.com
(413) 755-1310

• Sept. 24: PWC Headline Luncheon, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Yankee Pedlar, 1866 Northampton St., Holyoke. The speaker will be Jane Iredale, president and founder of Jane Iredale Skin Care. Tickets are $25 for members, $35 for general admission.

SOUTH HADLEY GRANBY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
(413) 532-6451
www.shgchamber.com

• Sept. 16: “What’s Your Granby Business?” Open House, 5 p.m., hosted by the new Granby Free Public Library, 297 East State St., Granby. Mingle with South Hadley and Granby business people and check out the beautiful new Granby library. Finger food and beverages. Tickets are $5 for chamber members, $10 for non-members, unless you are a Granby business owner — then it’s free.

WEST OF THE RIVER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.ourwrc.com
(413) 568-1618

• Sept. 8: Open House, 4-7 p.m. The Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce its new office at 16 North Elm St. in Westfield. Join us for an open house.

• Sept. 17: Networking Lunch, noon to 1:30 p.m. at Kaptain Jimmy’s, 916 Suffield St, Agawam. Network with fellow chamber members over lunch. Each member will get approximately one minute to offer a brief pitch about their company. E-mail [email protected] to register.

Court Dockets

By
Court Dockets Departments

The following is a compilation of recent lawsuits involving area businesses and organizations. These are strictly allegations that have yet to be proven in a court of law. Readers are advised to contact the parties listed, or the court, for more information concerning the individual claims.

CHICOPEE DISTRICT COURT

Michael Kelleher v. Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers of New York Inc.
Allegation: Negligence in food preparation causing illness and hospitalization: $11,972.83
Filed: 7/17/14

W & I Construction Inc. v. C.L. Diesel Repair Inc.
Allegation: Breach of contract for failure to repair work vehicle: $3,000+
Filed: 7/8/14

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT

Sabrosura Supermarket Inc. v. Domingo Jiminez d/b/a Cuba Supermarket, LLC
Allegation: Breach of lease agreement: $300,000
Filed: 7/18/14

The Mack Group, LLC v. Greater Western Steel, LLC and Tower View, LLC
Allegation: Breach of contract under a mechanics lien: $132,000
Filed: 7/9/14

HAMPSHIRE SUPERIOR COURT

Jennifer Fernandez v. RBS Assoc., N.A. and Citizens Financial Group
Allegation: Employment discrimination: $25,000+
Filed: 5/22/14

Joan Tremblay and Dorothy Dougherty v. Ryder Funeral Home, et al
Allegation: Breach of contract and negligent interference with a dead body: $100,000+
Filed: 6/10/14

NORTHAMPTON DISTRICT COURT

Prospect Woods Homeowner’s Assoc. v. Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.
Allegation: Failure to pay assessments imposed by homeowner’s association: $5,589.69
Filed 6/18/14

PALMER DISTRICT COURT

Adler Tank Rentals, LLC v. GML Construction Inc.
Allegation: Breach of contract: $6,817.51
Filed: 6/20/14

Commerce Insurance Co. a/s/o Judy Joaquin and Melinda Alves v. FedEx Ground Package System Inc. and Kenneth Allen Jr.
Allegation: Negligent operation of FedEx vehicle causing injury: $10,608.73
Filed: 5/22/14

SPRINGFIELD DISTRICT COURT

Liberty Mutual v. Larovere Design/Build Corp.
Allegation: non-payment of a workers’ compensation policy: $11,272.80
Filed: 6/27/14

Mary Perello v. Northeast Properties d/b/a F & P Realty Trust, 58 Realty Trust, and West Street Realty Trust
Allegation: Breach of implied covenant of habitability: $9,000
Filed: 7/9/14

Michelle Smith v. Swift Transportation
Allegation: Negligence causing injury: $24,999
Filed: 6/20/14

Chamber Corners

By
Chamber Corners Departments

AFFILIATED CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE OF GREATER SPRINGFIELD
www.myonlinechamber.com
(413) 787-1555

Sept. 3: ACCGS Business@Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m., at the Sheraton Springfield, One Monarch Place, Springfield. “Keeping All the Balls in the Air” with Rob Peck, Zestworks. The event will also salute Elegant Affairs (25th anniversary) and Springfield Partners for Community Action (50th anniversary). The breakfast is sponsored by United Personnel.Tickets are $20 for members ($25 walk-in) and $30 for general admission.

Sept. 10: ERC5/ACCGS Millfest After 5, 5 p.m. to dusk, at Ludlow Mills, 100 State St., Ludlow. Music, great food, lots of fun, and networking. Tickets are $15 for members, $25 for general admission. Proceeds benefit the ERC5 Scholarship Fund. The East of the River Five Town Chamber of Commerce is an affiliate of the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield.

Sept. 23: ACCGS Pastries, Politics & Policy, 8-9 a.m.
An informal roundtable discussion, designed for political and policy junkies. Reservations are $15 for members, $25 for general admission, which includes continental breakfast. Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com.

Sept. 30: Rake in the Business Table Top Showcase, 4:30-7 p.m., at the Castle of Knights, 1599 Memorial Dr., Chicopee. Network with more than 100 vendors. Reservations are $5 in advance, $10 at the door. Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com. Presented by the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield and the Greater Chicopee, Holyoke, and Westfield chambers of commerce.

AMHERST AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.amherstarea.com
(413) 253-0700

Aug. 27: 48th Annual Community Breakfast, 7:30-9 a.m. in the Student Union Ballroom on the UMass Amherst campus. The annual Community Breakfast signals the start of the academic year and is an opportunity to meet newcomers to the community; see old friends, neighbors, and colleagues; and talk about the year ahead. All are welcome at this buffet breakfast and gathering of area business owners, legislators, mayors, select board representatives, and members of the academic and business communities. Tickets are $8 in advance or $10 at the door. For more information, call (413) 577-1101 or e-mail [email protected].

GREATER CHICOPEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.chicopeechamber.org
(413) 594-2101

Sept. 5: “Taking Care of Business: How to Develop and Grow Your Business,” a six-part workshop series, begins with “From Startup to Finish: Financing Your Business,” from 9 to 11 a.m. at Residence Inn by Marriott, 500 Memorial Dr., Chicopee. Sponsored by Common Capital. Cost is $20 for members, $30 for non-members.

Sept. 10: CEO Luncheon at the Munich Haus Restaurant. Registration at 11:45, lunch at noon. Network and hear from Eric Lapointe, executive vice president of the Springfield Falcons, who recently joined the organization and oversees all revenue-generating functions of the team. His most recent position was with the NHL’s Florida Panthers as director of premium seating, where his primary responsibilities included managing the senior-level sales and service team, developing and executing premium selling strategies, and driving revenue. He comes to Springfield with a career that includes managerial and sales responsibilities with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins and the NBA’s Miami Heat. Lapointe’s extensive sports-business experience includes working under some of the most influential figures in professional sports, including Mike Holmgren, Bill Parcells, and Pat Riley. He is a graduate of UMass Amherst with a bachelor’s degree in sport management, and received a master’s degree in management from Cambridge College. Tickets are $25 for members, $30 for general admission.

Sept. 17: Salute Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m., at the Collegian Court, 89 Park St., Chicopee. Tickets are $20 for members, $26 for non-members.

Sept. 25: The “Taking Care of Business,” series continues with “Negotiating and Understanding Leases,” 9-11 a.m., at the Residence Inn by Marriott, 500 Memorial Dr., Chicopee. Sponsored by Common Capital. Cost is $20 for members, $30 for non-members.

Sept. 30: Table Top Expo & Business Networking Event, 4:30-7 p.m., at the Castle of Knights, 1599 Memorial Dr. in Chicopee. Presented by the Greater Chicopee, Holyoke, and Westfield chambers of commerce and ACCGS. Tickets are $5 pre-registered, $10 at the door. Sign up at www.chicopeechamber.org.

GREATER EASTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.easthamptonchamber.org
(413) 527-9414

Sept. 11: Networking By Night Business Card Exchange, 5-7 p.m., at the Look Park Garden House, 300 North Main St., Florence. Sponsored by Residential Mortgage Services. Door prizes, hors d’ouevres, host beer and wine. Tickets: $5 for members, $15 for future members. RSVP requested.

Sept. 12-13: Electronic recycling fund-raiser, Sept. 12, 1-4 p.m.; Sept. 13, 8:30 to noon. Dropoff location at Liberty and Mechanic streets, Easthampton. Sponsored by Duseau Trucking LLC and A-Z Storage & Properties. Proceeds to benefit the chamber’s programs, including the Holiday Lighting Fund. Responsibly dispose of your old computers, monitors, TVs, telephones, stereos, and office or home appliances. No registration required; open to all members of the Greater Easthampton community. Nominal recycling fees. We cannot accept refrigerators, freezers, dehumidifiers, or any appliances containing freon. For more information, contact the chamber.

GREATER HOLYOKE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.holycham.com
(413) 534-3376

Sept. 10: Legislative Coffee Hour, 7:45-9 a.m., at Slainte Restaurant, 80 Jarvis Ave., Holyoke, featuring guest speakers Mayor Alex Morse, City Council President Kevin Jourdain, and City Treasurer Jon Lumbra. Join us for coffee and conversation, where members of the community have a chance to ask questions regarding issues facing Western Mass. and the Greater Holyoke area. Sponsored by Ferriter Law and Marcotte Ford. Tickets are $18 for members, $25 at the door and for non-members.

Sept. 17: Annual Outing Clambake, 5:30-8 p.m., at Holyoke Country Club, 3 Country Club Road, Holyoke. Lobster dinner, putting contest, raffle prizes, 50/50 raffle, chowder cookoff. Sponsored by United Water, Pioneer Valley Railroad, and CareerPoint. Tickets are $30 for members and advance reservations, and $40 for non-members and at the door. The public is invited to attend.

Sept. 30: Table Top Showcase, 4:30-7 p.m., at the Castle of Knights in Chicopee. Four area chambers — Greater Holyoke, Greater Chicopee, Greater Westfield, and the ACCGS — are getting together to present a tabletop mini-trade show. Tables cost $125. Visitors pay $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Call the Holyoke Chamber at (413) 534-3376 to secure a table, or sign up online at www.holycham.com.

Oct. 8: Autumn Business Breakfast at the Log Cabin, 7:30-9 a.m. Recognizing new members, business milestones, and networking breakfast meeting. Sponsored by the Republican and Holyoke Medical Center. Cost:
$22 for members in advance, $28 for non-members and at the door. Call the chamber at (413) 534-3376 for more information.

GREATER NORTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.explorenorthampton.com
(413) 584-1900

Sept. 10: Northampton Chamber Monthly Arrive @5, 5-7 p.m. Arrive when you can, stay as long as you can. A casual mix and mingle with your colleagues and friends. Sponsors: Greenfield Savings Bank, Hathaway Farms, and United Personnel. Tickets are $10 for members, $15 for non-members.

Sept. 11: 2014 Workshop: “Introduction to Google Docs,” 9-11 a.m. at Pioneer Training, 139B Damon Road, Northampton. The class includes an introductory section on Google Drive, the online storage location for Google Docs. Participants will learn how to set up a local Google Drive folder, create new documents in the Google Docs format, and convert Word documents to the Google Docs format. The class will focus on basic formatting and editing techniques in Google Docs, but will also cover best practices for using Google Docs. Pre-registration is required, and space is limited. Tickets are $20 for members, $25 for non-members. To register, e-mail [email protected].

GREATER WESTFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.westfieldbiz.org
(413) 568-1618

Sept. 8: Chamber Open House, 4-7 p.m., at the Greater Westfield Chamber, 16 North Elm St., Westfield. Help us celebrate our new location by stopping in to see our new office. We’ve relocated to better serve our members and communities. Refreshments will be served.

Sept. 9: Lunch & Lecture Series 1, presented by Tim Flynn, AAMS, Edward Jones Investments, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., at Noble Hospital, Conference Room A, Westfield. Topic: “Retirement and Investments for Business.” Cost: free to chamber members, $25 for non-members, or $60 for all three in the series. For more information, call Pam at the chamber office at (413) 568-1618.

Sept. 10: After 5 Connection, 5-7 p.m., at the Holiday Inn Express, 39 Southampton Road, Westfield. Sponsored by Advanced Medical Consulting and Billing. Great connection opportunities. Complimentary refreshments provided. Walk-ins are welcome. Cost is $10 for members, $15 for non-members (cash at the door). To register, call Pam at the chamber office at (413) 568-1618.

Sept. 15: Speaker Series, part 1 of 3. “Legal Issues Affecting Business,” presented by Royal LLP, 8-9:15 a.m., at the Genesis Spiritual Life & Conference Center, Westfield. Cost: free to chamber members, $25 for non-members, or $60 for all three in the series. For more information, call Pam at the chamber office, (413) 568-1618.

Sept. 19: September Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m., at the 104th Fighter Wing ANG, 175 Falcon Dr., Westfield. Sponsors: Platinum, Westfield Bank; Gold, Savage Arms; Silver, Prolamina and Wealth Technology Group. Speaker: Dr. Alan Robinson, co-author of The Idea-Driven Organization. Cost is $25 for members, $30 for non-members. To register, call Pam at the chamber office at (413) 568-1618. Consider donating a raffle prize to the event.

Sept. 30: 17th Annual Table Top Showcase, 4:30-7 p.m., at the Castle of Knights, Chicopee. Cost: $5 in advance through the chamber or $10 at the door. Opportunities available for sponsorships and exhibitor tables. For more information, call Pam at the chamber office at (413) 568-1618.

PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S CHAMBER
www.professionalwomenschamber.com
(413) 755-1310

Sept. 17: PWC Headline Luncheon, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Yankee Pedlar, 1866 Northampton St., Holyoke. The speaker will be Jane Iredale, president and founder of Jane Iredale Skin Care. Tickets are $25 for members, $35 for general admission.

SOUTH HADLEY GRANBY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.shgchamber.com
(413) 532-6451

Sept. 16: “What’s Your Granby Business?” Open House, 5 p.m., hosted by the new Granby Free Public Library, 297 East State St., Granby. Mingle with South Hadley and Granby business people and check out the beautiful new Granby library. Finger food and beverages. Tickets are $5 for chamber members, $10 for non-members, unless you are a Granby business owner — then it’s free.

WEST OF THE RIVER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.ourwrc.com
(413) 568-1618

Sept. 3: Wicked Wednesday, 5-7 p.m., at E.B’s Restaurant, 385 Walnut St Ext., Agawam.

Sept. 8: Open House, 4-7 p.m. The Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce its new office at 16 North Elm St. in Westfield. Join us for an open house.

Sept. 17: Networking Lunch, noon to 1:30 p.m. at Kaptain Jimmy’s, 916 Suffield St, Agawam. Network with fellow chamber members over lunch. Each member will get approximately one minute to offer a brief pitch about their company. E-mail [email protected] to register.

Minoff Chosen Among ‘Best Lawyers’

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Keith Minoff was recently selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2015 in the fields of commercial litigation and corporate law.

Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey. More than 52,000 leading attorneys cast more than 5.5 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas. Minoff specializes in business litigation and employment law. His office is located in downtown Springfield.

Dr. Robert Simpson Jr. Named Behavioral Healthcare Champion

By
Daily News

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. — Brattleboro Retreat President and CEO Dr. Robert Simpson Jr. has been named by Behavioral Healthcare magazine as a 2014 Behavioral Healthcare Champion, along with four other leaders in the field of mental health from across the nation.

The 2014 champions were selected from outstanding nominees across the country who, according to the magazine, are making a difference in the development, delivery, and effectiveness of mental-healthcare services.

“True leaders create lasting impact, and our 2014 Behavioral Healthcare Champions all have an eye on the future,” said Julie Miller, editor in chief of Behavioral Healthcare. “Their drive to find new and more effective ways to serve their clients is reflected not just in their own organizations’ success, but also in the progress they’ve witnessed in their communities.” The 2014 Behavioral Healthcare Champions are profiled in the July/August 2014 issue of Behavioral Healthcare magazine, and were recognized at a special ceremony during the National Conference on Addiction Disorders (NCAD) and the co-located Behavioral Healthcare Leadership Summit, held in St. Louis on Aug. 22-26.

Simpson’s many achievements since becoming the Retreat’s CEO in November 2006 are discussed in-depth in the above-mentioned profile. Among those achievements are a complete revamp of the hospital’s admissions process that replaced a multi-channel system of patient access with a streamlined, single-access point that makes access to the Retreat’s numerous programs easier and more dignified for patients.

Under Simpson’s watch, the Retreat has successfully launched four specialty clinical services designed to better meet the psychiatric and addiction treatment needs of distinct populations that are typically underserved. They are the Adult Inpatient Program for people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender; the Emerging Adult Inpatient Program for young adults ages 18-26; the Uniformed Service Program, a partial-hospital program designed to meet the unique needs of law enforcement, firefighters, corrections officers, military personnel, and first responders suffering from PTSD and other duty-related issues, including addiction to alcohol and other drugs, major depression, and domestic violence; and the Mind Body Pain Management Clinic, a treatment alternative for people experiencing chronic pain that utilizes biofeedback, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), mindfulness, and mindful movement in place of typical treatments such as medication and surgery.

During Simpson’s tenure, the Brattleboro Retreat has experienced significant growth, increasing its number of staffed beds from an average of 50 in 2006 to an average of 122 in 2014. During the same time, the Brattleboro Retreat has doubled its number of employees from approximately 400 to more than 800.

Four Skoler, Abbott & Presser Attorneys Honored by Best Lawyers

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C., an employment-law firm serving the Greater Springfield area, announced that four of the firm’s partners — Ralph Abbott Jr., John Glenn, Timothy Murphy, and Jay Presser — were listed in 2015 edition of Best Lawyers in America. In addition, Murphy was named the Best Lawyers 2015 litigation, labor and employment Lawyer of the Year in Springfield.

Those honored as Lawyer of the Year have received particularly high ratings in surveys by earning a superior level of respect among their peers for their abilities, professionalism, and integrity. Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey. More than 52,000 leading attorneys cast more than 5.5 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas. Lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed; therefore, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor.

• Abbott has been listed in Best Lawyers in the categories of arbitration; employment law, management; labor law, management; and mediation. He has been a partner at the firm since 1975 and is known throughout the legal community for his work representing management in labor relations and employment-related matters, providing employment-related advice to employers, assisting clients in remaining union-free, and representing employers before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Abbott also has numerous credits as an author, editor, and teacher and a record of civic and community involvement. He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers every year since 1989.

• Glenn has been listed in Best Lawyers in the categories of arbitration; employment law, management; and labor law, management. He has been a partner of the firm since 1979 and has spent his career representing management in labor relations and employment-related matters. In addition to providing employment-related advice to employers, he assists clients in remaining union-free and represents employers before the NLRB. He has extensive experience negotiating collective-bargaining agreements and representing employers at arbitration hearings and before state and federal agencies. Prior to joining Skoler, Abbott & Presser, Glenn was employed by the NLRB in Cincinnati. He has served as an adjunct professor of Labor Law at Western New England University School of Law and is a member of the American Academy of Hospital Attorneys. He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers every year since 1995.

• Murphy has been listed in Best Lawyers in the categories of employment law, management; labor law, management; and litigation, labor and employment. He joined Skoler Abbott after serving as general counsel to an area labor union and as an assistant district attorney for the Hampden County District Attorney’s Office. His practice includes labor relations and employment litigation, as well as employment counseling. A native of the Springfield area, Murphy is a graduate of the Western New England University School of Law. He has also taught courses in employment law at WNEU. He is a frequent contributor to business and human-resource publications and a contributing author to the Massachusetts Employment Law Letter. He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers every year since 2013.

• Presser has been listed in Best Lawyers in the categories of employment law, management; labor law, management; and litigation, labor and employment. He has more than 35 years of experience litigating employment cases and has successfully defended employers in civil actions and jury trials and handled cases in all areas of employment law, including discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful discharge, wage hour, FMLA, ERISA, and defamation. He has won appeals before the Supreme Judicial Court and the First and Second Circuit Courts of Appeals, and represented employers in hundreds of arbitration cases arising under collective-bargaining agreements. He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers every year since 1991.

NiSource Charitable Foundation Donates $5,000 to NoFIRES



By
Daily News

EASTHAMPTON — In support of public safety and human services in the communities served by Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, NiSource Inc., parent company of Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, has awarded a $5,000 grant through the NiSource Charitable Foundation to NoFIRES, a nonprofit program serving 51 Massachusetts communities by offering education and intervention to juvenile fire setters.

The donation was presented by Andrea Luppi, manager of Communications and Community Relations at Columbia Gas, to Loren Davine, executive director of NoFIRES; Mary Carey, communications director for the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office; and Fire Chief Russ Anderson of the Granby Fire Department.

NoFIRES is one of the only statewide programs available for juveniles that have engaged in fire-related behavior. In addition to providing fire-safety education to juveniles that have engaged in fire setting, NoFIRES is committed to providing high-quality trainings in this field to educators, clinicians, and law enforcement. In 2013, NoFIRES sponsored several trainings, including the first annual Arson Investigation and Prosecution Conference, which was attended by more than 200 police and fire investigators from around the state.

Four at Sullivan, Hayes & Quinn Named ‘Best Lawyers’

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Four attorneys from Sullivan, Hayes & Quinn, LLC have been selected by their peers for inclusion in the 21st edition of Best Lawyers in America in the areas of labor law and employment law, management, as well as litigation, labor and employment. Receiving the prestigious award this year were Meghan and Frederick Sullivan, Gordon Quinn, and Richard Hayes.

The 2015 list also highlights the achievements of Managing Partner Meghan Sullivan by naming her the 2014-15 Springfield “Lawyer of the Year” in the practice area of labor law, management. Only a single lawyer in each practice area in each community is honored as Lawyer of the Year.

“This is the third year that Meghan Sullivan has been selected as Lawyer of the Year,” said founding partner Frederick Sullivan. “Her SH&Q colleagues are extremely proud to be working with an employment-law attorney so recognized for her exceptional accomplishments on behalf of the firm’s clients.”

Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey and is regarded as a definitive guide to legal excellence. Inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor, as lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed. The firm’s two founding partners Frederick Sullivan and Richard Hayes, have been listed in Best Lawyers numerous times throughout their careers. Sullivan was first honored with the designation in 1989, with Hayes following suit in 1993. To view the latest digital edition of the New England Best Lawyers in America in which the SH&Q partners are featured, visit www.bestlawyers.com.

Bankruptcies

By
Bankruptcies Departments

The following bankruptcy petitions were recently filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Readers should confirm all information with the court.

Affordable Flooring a/k/a
Minchuk, David V.
172 Meadow St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/23/14

Baush, Deborah Ann
53 Park Slope
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/30/14

Bean, Daniel R.
157 Nottingham Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/18/14

Beauregard, Jeffrey B.
41 Lawler St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/27/14

Beer, Deborah A.
a/k/a Frigon, Deborah A.
102 Old Gilbertville Road
Ware, MA 01082
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/18/14

Bernardes, Rui A.
128 Haviland St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 06/29/14

Boland, John F.
440 Chapin St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/19/14

Borden, William J.
Borden, Susan M.
38 Anita Dr.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/16/14

Burke, Geraldine A.
a/k/a Calcasola, Geraldine A.
a/k/a Wright, Geraldine A.
123 Wachusett St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/17/14

Casineau, Eric J.
23 Mallowhill Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/27/14

Cody, Bethany M.
50 Shepherd St., Apt. B
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/24/14

Cole, George C.
34 Warrington St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 06/24/14

Collamore, Donna M.
20 Weymouth St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 06/25/14

Collins, Joanne M.
1003 North Westfield St.
Feeding Hills, MA 01030
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/26/14

Deleo, Matthew
63 Adams St.
Orange, MA 01364
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/27/14

Echeverria, Brigitte E.
1539 Allen St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/18/14

Falcha, James J.
P.O. Box 828
Otis, MA 01253
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/16/14

Fernandez, Joel R.
Correa, Alba N.
22 Desrosiers St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/27/14

Gadecki, Edward
138 Pine St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/19/14

George, Janice M
75B Wells St., Apt 414
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/30/14

George, Jeffrey M.
504 Fairway Ave.
Turners Falls, MA 01376
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/30/14

Gosciminski, Lynne T.
13 Millbrook Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/26/14

Gouge, Mary Elissa
72 Mechanic St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 06/27/14

Harmon, Christine J.
c/o Ostrander Law Office
PO Box 1237
Northampton, MA 01061
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/26/14

Hodgins, Mary B.
40 Ogden St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/28/14

Huffer, James M.
300 West Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/20/14

Ibas, Faruk
65 Bluebird Circle
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/19/14

Kindberg, Deborah A.
97 Union Road
Wales, MA 01081
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/20/14

Kirk, Robert T.
Kirk, Mary Mellinger
53 Harvey Johnson Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/20/14

LaLiberte, Christopher J.
LaLiberte, Paige
79 Pine Ridge Road
Montgomery, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/19/14

LaMountain, Mary Ann
34 Meadow St., Apt. 10
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/20/14

Lassalle, Darcie B.
a/k/a Lasalle, Darcie
a/k/a Rickson, Darcie B.
60 Lakeview Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/19/14

Lindsey, Keith A.
P.O Box 275
Gilbertville, MA 01031
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/24/14

Madison, Pamela R.
a/k/a Williams, Pamela Rose
96 Bradford Dr.
Feeding Hills, MA 01030
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/20/14

Manzi, Paul
Manzi, Melissa M.
199 Sawmill Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/18/14

McSweeney, Angela
531 Exchange St.
Athol, MA 01331
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/27/14

Moreno, Luis A.
Moreno, Olga V.
P.O. Box 1361
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/18/14

Morris, Debra A.
a/k/a Sheridan, Debra A.
PO Box 1135
Stockbridge, MA 01262
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/27/14

Morris, Ralph G.
PO Box 1135
Stockbridge, MA 01262
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/27/14

Murillo, Ricardo M.
16 Monmouth St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/26/14

Muzima, Jeannette
71 State St. #311
Northampton, MA 01060
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/26/14

Nunnally, Paul J.
93 Wolcott St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 06/19/14

Packard, Michael
16 High St.
Adams, MA 01220
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/30/14

Piatt-Rios, Euripides P.
138 Princeton Ave.
Feeding Hills, MA 01030
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 06/27/14

Rodriguez-Huaman, Leslie A.
811 Sheridan St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/18/14

Rogers, Keith E.
Rogers, Diane L.
46 Breakneck Road
Sturbridge, MA 01566
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/16/14

Rosario, Emmanuel
64 Prospect St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/18/14

S&S Plumbing & Heating
Sangiovanni, Dante P.
51 Lathers Ave.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/16/14

Sadler, Laura Ann
27 Brookside Road
Orange, MA 01364
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/25/14

Saganich, Daniel P.
186 West Main St., Apt. D
Orange, MA 01364
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/26/14

Samuelson, Francis J.
1312 Morgan Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/25/14

Sarinh, Son
392 Page Blvd.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/27/14

Siciliano, Maria B.
a/k/a Sepulveda, Maria
43 Brainard Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/18/14

Sierra, Melinda
a/k/a Hernandez, Melinda
40 East Hooker St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/17/14

Sierra, Roberto
40 East Hooker St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/17/14

Smith, Charles F.
419 Montcalm St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/18/14

Tackeff, Steven
8 Birch St.
Sturbridge, MA 01566
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/30/14

Thompson, Michael P.
560 Springfield St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/27/14

Vaselacopoulos, Helen E.
161 Bowles Park Ext.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/19/14

Watts, Hillary M.
518 Gale Ave.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/16/14

Whitley, Shelley S.
77 Cheyenne Road
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/27/14

People On the Move

By
Departments People on the Move

Freedom Credit Union announced the promotion of three officers within the credit union and the appointment of a new Mortgage Loan Originator.

Karen Chauvin Katsanos

Karen Chauvin Katsanos

• Karen Chauvin Katsanos has been promoted to Vice President of Human Resources at FCU. She will continue to manage the human resource and training activities for the credit union, which employs a staff of 130. Katsanos joined the credit union in 2012 and has 20 years of HR experience in several industries, including healthcare and manufacturing. She has held a number of senior-management positions throughout her career. Katsanos earned her bachelor’s degree from the UMass Amherst and has earned two master’s degrees — one in psychology from Westfield State College and the other in business administration from Western New England College. She holds an SPHR designation that she earned from the Human Resource Certification Institute. She is a board member for the Human Resource Management Assoc. of Western New England and the Ronald McDonald House of Springfield.
Cheryl Podgorski

Cheryl Podgorski

• Cheryl Podgorski has been promoted to Vice President of Operations. She joined the credit union in 2012 and has more than 26 years of operations experience in both the banking and credit-union industries, holding several senior-management positions throughout her career. In addition to her responsibilities in the credit union’s Operations Department, Podgorski has been managing Freedom’s Loan Servicing Department for the past year. She earned her master’s degree in business administration from Western New England College and holds a Six Sigma Green Belt certification. She is a past certified treasury professional through the Assoc. for Financial Professionals.



Lisa Astley

Lisa Astley

• Lisa Astley has been promoted to Branch Officer of Freedom’s Ludlow Branch. In her new position, she oversees the financial and lending operations of the branch, develops new business opportunities with individuals and businesses, and promotes financial literacy at area schools. Astley has been employed at Freedom for five years and has 12 years of experience in the banking and financial-services industries. Prior to joining Freedom, she was customer-service supervisor at Randall’s Farm in Ludlow for 15 years. Astley is currently working toward a financial services degree with the Center For Financial Training.



Antonio Sanches

Antonio Sanches

• Antonio Sanches has joined Freedom as a Mortgage Loan Originator and is responsible for real-estate origination throughout Hampden and Hampshire counties. As he helps expand Freedom’s mortgage services to its members in Hampden and Hampshire counties, he will offer his expertise in conventional, FHA, MassHousing, Massachusetts Housing Partnership’s One Mortgage, and USDA loans. He has 10 years of experience in the finance industry, including expertise in residential mortgage origination, first-time home-buyer assistance, and secondary market sales. Most recently, he was assistant vice president at Florence Savings Bank. Currently, Sanches is president of the Rotary Club of Ludlow and a corporator at the Randall Ludlow Boys and Girls Club. In June, he was named “Affiliate of the Year” by the Realtor Assoc. of Pioneer Valley.  Sanches is working at the Freedom branch on Center Street in Ludlow.
•••••
Maria Koutroubila

Maria Koutroubila

FieldEddy Insurance announced that Maria Koutroubila has joined the firm as a personal-lines account manager. She brings more than 10 years of insurance-related experience to the position, and is a member of the National Alliance, holding the CISR designation and working toward CISR Elite designation. Koutroubila will be responsible for educating and ensuring that clients have the proper insurance coverage. As part of the personal-lines team, she will work to implement daily operations and ensure that that standard working procedures, key performance indicators, and other account metrics are achieved on a regular basis.
•••••
Berkshire Bank announced that Thaddeus Welch III has been hired as Portfolio Research Analyst and Trader, joining its Wealth Management team. In this position, Welch will be responsible for managing all trading activities and performing fundamental, economic, and sector research to assist in generating overall investment strategies. In addition, Welch will work with clients to customize their portfolios for appropriate risk-reward allocations and to achieve their long-term goals. His areas of specialization are trading,
equity research, and portfolio management. Welch will be working out of Berkshire Wealth Management’s office at 25 Main St. in Lenox. Previously, Welch worked for Spinnaker Trust in Portland, Maine, where he was a member of the investment committee. He received his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Bowdoin College and is a CFA level II candidate.
•••••
The Massachusetts Nonprofit Network (MNN), the statewide organization that unites and strengthens the nonprofit sector through advocacy, public awareness, and capacity building, announced that it has appointed James Ayres, CEO and Executive Director of United Way of Hampshire County, to its board of directors. “We are honored to welcome Jim Ayres, whose passion and considerable experience at the community and state level will help strengthen our state’s vast nonprofit sector,” said Rick Jakious, CEO of the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network. “MNN’s board of directors reflects the rich geographical and organizational diversity of the state’s nonprofit sector and is the voice of a strong, united nonprofit sector in Massachusetts.” Said Ayres, “the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network is an invaluable organization for promoting public policy, support, and public understanding of the not-for-profit sector. A vibrant and well-equipped nonprofit sector, in turn, profoundly impacts quality of life thoughout theCommonwealth. I’m excited to join the MNN board and to work with other statewide leaders to shape the direction of the organization.” Prior to his role at United Way of Hampshire County, Ayres served for 12 years as executive director of the Northampton-based Center for New Americans, an education and resource center for immigrants, refugees, and other limited-English speakers in Western Mass. In these roles, he has worked extensively with local and state governments, community coalitions, workforce boards, and NGOs to develop policy and programming. Ayres holds master’s degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst.

Court Dockets

By
Court Dockets Departments

The following is a compilation of recent lawsuits involving area businesses and organizations. These are strictly allegations that have yet to be proven in a court of law. Readers are advised to contact the parties listed, or the court, for more information concerning the individual claims.

CHICOPEE DISTRICT COURT
Pamela Jenkins-Lewis v. Tri-Wire Engineering Solutions Inc. and Jonathan Podmore
Allegation: Negligent operation of a motor vehicle: $2,625
Filed: 7/9/14

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT
Brigid M. Rolfe v. American Student Assistance
Allegation: Failure to provide validation of debt and breach of Fair Debt Collection Practices: $90,000
Filed: 7/1/14

Monson Savings Bank v. KAM Investments, LLC and John Murphy
Allegation: Default on commercial promissory note: $71,099.61
Filed: 7/8/14

HAMPSHIRE SUPERIOR COURT
Joseph Lellman v. BMW of North America, LLC
Allegation: Breach of written and implied warranty: $28,000+
Filed: 6/10/14

Katherine S. Kopeski v. Ryder Funeral Home Inc., et al
Allegation: Breach of contract, negligence, and improper disposal of human remains: $250,000+
Filed: 6/20/14

NORTHAMPTON DISTRICT COURT
Sall Greenhouse v. Target Corp.
Allegation: Negligent maintenance of property causing slip and fall: $3,279.27
File: 5/28/14

PALMER DISTRICT COURT
Javier Rivera v. Commerce Insurance Co.
Allegation: Improper denial of coverage for failure to effectuate prompt, fair, and equitable settlement for plaintiff’s claim: $5,670.44
Filed: 6/3/14

SPRINGFIELD DISTRICT COURT
Aniya Morris, a minor, by her mother and next friend, Brittner Smith v. Toys R Us, Inc.
Allegation: Negligent assembly of bicycle causing injury: $24,999
Filed: 6/23/14

Beacon Sales Acquisition v. A. Jacevicius & Co. Inc. and Allen Jacevicius
Allegation: Non-payment of goods sold and delivered: $19,437.36
Filed: 6/18/14

Blueline Rentals, LLC f/d/b/a Volvo Rents v. Patriots Environmental Corp.
Allegation: Breach of commercial trade credit agreement for the rental of construction equipment: $20,033.37
Filed: 7/23/14

Thurston Foods Inc. v. Early Childhood Centers of Greater Springfield Inc.
Allegation: Non-payment of goods sold and delivered: $20,310.14
Filed: 7/15/14

WESTFIELD DISTRICT COURT
Beth Ingram and Brooke Quinn v. Six Flags Entertainment Corp. and Broadspire Services Inc.
Allegation: Negligent failure to properly monitor rides causing injury: $1,910
Filed: 6/12/14

Opinion

By
Opinion
Five Principles for an Open Internet

By ANDREW LIPPMAN

In the past few months, the open Internet has been everywhere from Comedy Central to the Harvard Law Review. Why? Because the U.S. government is at a crossroads in deciding how Americans will access it. The FCC solicited comments from the public, and more than 1 million people responded. But getting this one right doesn’t have to be complicated.

The FCC was created in 1934 to ensure that citizens throughout the country had access to affordable telephone service. We need a similar mandate today for Internet access. Here are five principles that can help us reach this goal.

Principle 1: It’s about more than money. A common metric used to measure the success of the Internet has been the number of commercial successes it has enabled. But a far better measure is the number of attempts at innovation it has allowed. Sure, there are the Ubers and Googles and Facebooks that have made many billionaires. But more important is the vastly reduced barrier to simply trying a new idea. This low barrier is a far better measure of an entrepreneurial society. Attempts are a proxy for opportunity, and while many of these do not explosively succeed, the people who make the attempts are invariably better off for it, as is society at large. Let’s drop the economic argument that success is the only metric and place appropriate value on the social goal of giving everyone a chance. After all, opportunity is the American way.

Principle 2: The Internet is a learning engine. We spend endless energy considering how to reform schools to make an educated populace, but the Internet has done this by creeping through the back door. There are two essential aspects of learning where the Internet succeeds and traditional educational institutions fail. First, it builds an accessible reference that creates communities of knowledge, and second, it establishes a forum where people can experiment, debug, and contribute. Both are essential, but only the first is measurable. Open courseware, the open-source programming movement, and Wikipedia are wonderful examples; they have transformed learning from memorization to access and participation. The results are clear.

The second aspect, however, is less obvious. In the 1960s, Seymour Papert invented Logo as a way for kids to learn mathematical principles through creation rather than rote. Modern iterations stress everything from creating animated stories to learning programming. More generally, the reduced barrier to trying a new idea transforms society, but it also is now affecting everything from technical learning to creative expression.

Principle 3: Symmetry is the norm. The Internet transforms us from passive consumers to active participants. The technologically enforced distinction between those who make bits and those who consume them has been eliminated. That separation is a holdover from the ancient past of mass media — think bloggers versus couch potatoes. At the MIT Media Lab, for example, students can pop up a server at the drop of a hat and publish a website, an application, or a new e-commerce experiment overnight. Can’t we make sure that everyone everywhere has the same chance?

Principle 4: Give me at least a bitway. Open Internet access has to be a simple duty of any owner of an information/communications franchise. The idea that someone can rent our airwaves and then privatize all the information that flows through them is abhorrent. Would we allow anyone to rent a public street and then charge us for its use? Of course they can provide specialized services such as movies, sports, and shopping, and of course they can profit from them. But it has to be done on top of a robust infrastructure that is open to all. This is a civic responsibility.

Principle 5: Don’t throttle the open Internet. The basic infrastructure for an open Internet cannot be diminished in favor of those higher-profit services. A way to think about this is that there are public roads and toll roads that can exist side by side. But we have to make sure that every improvement made to the toll road is matched by an equal improvement to the free road. Otherwise, if you can’t pay the toll, you’re out of luck — and at the mercy of potentially narrow interests.

None of these ideas are revolutionary. But all too often, they create a polarized debate about regulation versus corporate freedom. And that misses the point. The current laws also don’t help. They are garbled and were written before the patterns of use and technologies of access had matured to where they are today. Using these principles as a guide, we can achieve an open Internet — without bitterness or legal wrangling.

Andrew Lippman is a senior research scientist and associate director at MIT’s Media Lab. This article first appeared in the Boston Globe.

Firm Resolve

By
Law Sections
Robinson Donovan Is in a Growth Mode

Jeff Roberts

Jeff Roberts, managing partner with Robinson Donovan, P.C.

Jeff Roberts, managing partner with Robinson Donovan, P.C.[/caption]For Jim Martin, understanding where Robinson Donovan, P.C. is headed requires an appreciation of the past.

“I always think it’s illustrative, when we talk about Robinson Donovan, to acknowledge our historical connections,” he said of the Springfield-based law firm that will mark its 150th anniversary in 2016. “We trace our roots back to Gov. George Robinson, and we’re the longest continuing law firm in the Pioneer Valley — perhaps in the state.”

Martin, a partner at the firm, said the late Milton Donovan — one of the founders of the practice long known as Robinson Donovan Madden & Barry — always stressed client service, and that’s what the six current partners and nine associates continue to emphasize today. “We feel we’re able to deliver high-quality legal services in an effective manner.”

According to Jeffrey Roberts, the longest-tenured partner at Robinson Donovan, building that reputation has been a multi-generational effort.

“When I started here, there were six or seven lawyers,” he told BusinessWest. “But even at that size, I never had the impression that the firm was being run by a few owners doing it for themselves, who didn’t care to leave anything behind. And today, I think all the partners want this firm to keep going after they’re gone.

“That’s why we keep hiring, why we made the decision to remodel the place,” he said of the firm’s offices high in Tower Square. “We’re looking for people to come here in the early stage of their career and stay here, stay in the community. And it’s working. It’s enjoyable to see everyone working as a team here and growing. Even through the recent recession, we’ve been in the game the whole time and expanding again.”

A general-practice firm, Robinson Donovan specializes in a number of legal niches, including corporate and business law, commercial real estate, estate planning and administration, divorce and family law, employment law, and litigation. After a period of rapid contraction last decade — more than 30 lawyers worked there as recently as 15 years ago — business is growing in virtually all those specialties, Roberts said, and the practice is on the rise again, hiring five attorneys over the past five years.

“With employment-law work, we’re talking about all types of employment-law issues — harassment, wrongful termination, age discrimination, all kinds of discrimination claims, and counseling employers,” Roberts explained. “Another area that’s been really active for us has been family-law work — divorce and domestic relations.

“We continue to have a lot of demand,” he said, “so we’ll likely keep hiring. But we try to be careful in how we grow, so we don’t grow just for the sake of growing. We want to keep our level of service up, keep our expertise up, while bringing in more people. We’re pretty confident, notwithstanding swings in the economy, that we’ll keep growing.”

For this issue’s focus on law, BusinessWest sits down with several attorneys with Robinson Donovan to talk about why this firm with an extensive history is anticipating a bright future.

Raising the Bar

Roberts was quick to note that the firm’s recent hires have spanned most of its specialties.

“It’s interesting to note, when you look at the people we’ve hired, they work in general litigation, trusts and estates, corporate transaction law, labor and employment, domestic relations. In each one of those areas, the partners and lawyers say there’s more work coming in, and we need to hire more people. That’s a good indication where the key practice areas are in Western Mass.”

He and Martin said Robinson Donovan has been quick to assimilate fast-growing subspecialties into its roster of services. Take, for example, the growth of solar projects and other installations involving ‘green’ forms of energy production — projects that require legal services to navigate a host of real-estate, zoning, and regulatory issues.

Associate Mike Simolo

Associate Mike Simolo, right, says younger attorneys at Robinson Donovan benefit from a culture of mentorship promoted by Jim Martin, left, and the other partners.


“Every time you pick up the paper, there’s something new with these projects,” Roberts said. “We’ve become involved in these opportunities to the point where one of our younger lawyers, Nick Lata, is extremely knowledgable about them.

“We now have a considerable amount of expertise in solar work,” he continued. “There aren’t too many wind farms around, but Jim started representing a company putting up windmills. As you do these projects, you learn a lot, acquire a lot of expertise. We’re excited about that.”

Martin, an expert in transactions who is also a leading automotive franchise attorney, said the transfer of closely held businesses is another fast-growing field. “People would be very surprised how difficult it is to effectuate a smooth transition of a family business from one generation to the next. It’s fraught with variables and rarely as smooth as the owners or their successors would like it to be.”

Nancy Frankel Pelletier, a partner who specializes in litigation, also has plenty on her plate these days, including municipal issues ranging from zoning to civil rights. “It’s a substantial amount of work. The law is very broad, but the aspect of litigation is somewhat specialized. You need someone experienced in the courtroom, and we are.”

One growth area in litigation involves dissolving business partnerships in which only one partner wants to walk away. “In these cases, no one really thought about what would happen if they didn’t want to stay together anymore; they didn’t create an agreement that didn’t allow for someone to walk away. I’ve seen a spike in people trying to get out of those arrangements.”

Jeff Trapani, another associate who works in litigation, noted that cost factors tend to drive trends, which is why alternative dispute resolution and arbitration continue to rise in popularity.

Meanwhile, Roberts noted that estate planning has taken on new importance at a time when Baby Boomers are aging and estate-tax rules have drastically changed, with exemptions rising from $1 million in 2000 to $5.5 million today.

All these factors, he said, contribute to a fertile environment in which a law firm can thrive and expand its reach — and he expects Robinson Donovan to continue to do just that.

The Next Generation

Martin said this growth is possible because the firm has long emphasized a culture of mentoring, with senior partners, influenced by those who came before, constantly training the younger generation, including tax-law specialist Lata, estate-planning specialist Michael Simolo, and family-law specialist Katherine McCarthy. “We continue to build a foundation of new talent, which we’re proud of.”

Simolo, for one, appreciates that culture. “It’s comforting to me to know I’ve got help available to me from both the partners and associates and the paralegals, if I need to turn to someone with an issue.”

Gesturing to Roberts and Martin, he noted, “there’s probably 65 years worth of legal experience sitting at this table, and it’s nice to be able to draw on that both in terms of not only getting the work done in a professional manner, but also client development. The culture here is to be applauded. Frankly, I feel totally comfortable going to any one of the partners with a question — ‘want to grab lunch? I’ve got an issue I want to talk over.’ That kind of thing happens here all the time. It’s very collegial, very team-oriented. For me, that’s one of the real pluses.”

It’s also a practical matter, Roberts said, to make sure all attorneys are up to speed.

“We’re big enough that we can take on big projects. On the other hand, we’re not too big. Clients want effiency, they want service, and when things go awry, they want someone to talk to,” he explained. “We’re well-positioned to do that. When we get young lawyers in, we get them involved right away in things that the other lawyers are doing. We don’t hide them for five years; we get them directly involved with clients. It gives a lot of depth to the practice. I’m on vacation, they know who to call. If somebody’s in a meeting or out of the office for two days, there’s always somebody they can call.”

Martin also praised the firm’s paralegal staff, many of whom have been at Robinson Donovan for many years. “We work as a team here, and we draw on their areas of training and deliver services in an efficient way, which is important to us.”

Attorneys Jeff Trapani and Nancy Frankel Pelletier

Attorneys Jeff Trapani and Nancy Frankel Pelletier say their litigation work has become more complex in recent years.

The firm has also built strong bonds in the community, with partners and associates serving on the boards of dozens of area nonprofits.

“It’s hard to do because everyone is so busy at work,” Roberts said, before emphasizing that such efforts are more than worth the time and energy. “I don’t think we’re any different than any other law firm. It’s hard to have a family, do all your work, and stay involved in the community. When somebody is able to do that, it really reflects some strong character. And we really like to see it.”

Looking Up

Robinson Donovan has come a long way since its early days, when it was best known for George Robinson’s successful defense of Lizzie Borden on double murder charges in 1892. These days, Martin noted, the firm is being recognized in a host of ways, such as the citations many of its attorneys have received from organizations like Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and Martindale-Hubbell. Simolo expects more of the same in the future.

“I think they’ve made some great hires since I’ve been here,” he said. “It’s encouraging to me to see the partners investing in the future of the firm.

“They’re very pragmatic and results-oriented in helping people solve issues,” Simolo continued. “They do that very well, as a result of having decades of experience. And it works out very well for the client.”

“We’re very results-oriented,” Frankel Pelletier agreed. “People don’t always perceive it this way, but we’re problem solvers. That’s what we do.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at  [email protected]

Coping with a New Reality

By
Law Sections
WNEU, Like All Law Schools, Is Adjusting to Lower Enrollment

Eric Gouvin

Eric Gouvin says WNEU Law, like any business weathering a storm, is focused on both increasing revenues and reducing expenses.

Eric Gouvin says there is ongoing discussion and debate within higher education about why enrollment is down at law schools across the nation.

But there is no debating that this decline is real and quite dramatic — some observers are even speculating that some institutions may not survive it — and that there is little to suggest that things are going to improve significantly any time soon, said Gouvin, dean of the Western New England University School of Law.

“It’s all across the country, a national trend, and while people have different perspectives on what’s happening and why it’s happening, no one can deny that it is happening,” he told BusinessWest. “There are fewer people going to law school — it’s as simple as that.”

Nationally, first-year enrollment for the fall of 2013 fell 11% from the previous year, and 24% over the past three years, according the American Bar Assoc., and, overall, law-school enrollment is at its lowest level (39,675 for 2013-14) since the late ’70s. At WNEU, first-year enrollment in the day (full-time) program has fallen from 133 in 2009 to a projected 95 for this fall, a 28% decline.

But that fall number actually represents an increase from a year ago, when only 85 people entered the program.

“We exceeded our expectations for this fall — we budgeted for fewer than 85,” said Gouvin, crediting “talented admissions people” and apparently attractive pricing and programs (more on those variables later) for the slight surge in the numbers for this fall. But sharp enrollment declines from the days before the Great Recession are real, and most analysts expect them to continue, he went on, adding that WNEU, like most other schools, is adjusting to what some are calling a new reality.

Overall, the law school is doing what businesses do when they face fiscal adversity, said Gouvin, and that is creating ways to both enhance revenues and cut expenses without impacting quality. The school is trimming staff through attrition — several faculty members have retired, and more are expected to do so over the next few years — while also adding new programs, some of them to attract students who aren’t necessarily looking to pursue a career practicing law. Such initiatives include a master of laws and letters (LLM) degree in estate planning and elder law, introduced in 2004, and other programs.

“That’s a supplemental source of income for us,” he said of the LLM offering, adding that the school will roll out a similar program for non-lawyers in 2015.

“This is for accountants, financial planners, and insurance professionals who need to deal with a lot of heavy-duty legal issues around planning for clients, but don’t want to spend three or four years getting a JD, and don’t need to,” he explained. “They just need some working knowledge of those technical provisions that will allow them to work better with counsel, and that’s why we think this will be an attractive offering.”

What’s more, the school is taking steps to make itself more competitive when it comes to attracting those who are willing to go to law school. These include freezing tuition for the next three years and becoming more aggressive and imaginative with scholarships and other forms of aid.

“We need more revenue, obviously, but increasing tuition for the JD (juris doctor) program is a non-starter — there’s a lot of price sensitivity right now,” Gouvin explained. “One of the things applicants focus on is affordability and a cost-benefit analysis. So we have frozen tuition for the next few years and are using that as a tool so students can look at us and say, ‘I know what I’m getting into here — I’m not going to be surprised by a tuition jump in the second or third year.’”

For this issue and its focus on law, BusinessWest talked with Gouvin about the decline in law-school enrollment, — and how WNEU is responding to what has become a considerable challenge for institutions across the country.

Making a Case

Gouvin said that, overall, many people in academia are uncomfortable with the notion of talking about higher education as a business and discussing matters within the framework of the law of supply and demand.

But for administrators at the nation’s law schools, there is no real choice in the matter. The decline in enrollment is that severe, and the outlook for the immediate future calls for little change in the forecast.

As Gouvin mentioned, there is some debate about why this happening, with theories including the recent troubles law-school graduates have had finding work amid an economic recovery that has been less than robust in many parts of the country, as well as an unwillingness among larger numbers of young people to take on the massive amounts of debt that most law-school students incur, given the uneasiness in the job market.

While the talk and speculation continue about why law schools are facing what many are now describing as a crisis, much of the discussion has shifted to what schools are doing in response.

Indeed, steps taken by various institutions have included everything from freezing tuition to offering buyouts to faculty and staff to creating more programs to people who won’t ever practice law, but may well need some of the skill sets lawyers possess. At New England Law School in Boston, the dean took a voluntary 25% pay cut to help balance the books.

At WNEU, said Gouvin, the broad goals are to trim expenses without impacting the overall quality of the program, become a more efficient operation, and make the school as competitive as possible in what has become a more intense battle for top students.

The school already has some competitive edges, said the dean, adding that the task at hand is to take full advantage of them.

One such advantage is price.

“Our tuition is $39,400, and while that sounds like a lot of money, when you compare it to other law schools, it’s a bargain,” he said. “Among private institutions, we’re very low.”

Another edge, says Gouvin, is simple geography. Western New England is the only accredited law school in the Commonwealth west of Greater Boston, he noted, adding that this uniqueness provides opportunities in the form of internships and clerkships in area courts and with judges assigned to courts in this region. Meanwhile, the rural location is attractive to those who don’t want to go to school in a big city and have no intention of working in one.

“We have a monopoly on really great placement with judges and agencies,” he said. “In addition, we have some great clinical programs that provide hands-on experience.

“A lot of the people who come here don’t want to be in a big city,” he went on. “Many of our students are from small and medium-sized cities, and they intend to go back to those communities to practice law.”

Still another advantage for the school is its programming, which Gouvin believes is more experiential in nature than what many competitors are offering.

“Addressing what lawyers do in real life is high on our list,” he told BusinessWest, “and we’re hoping that program offerings, together with an attractive price, make a good case for us.”

While working to increase revenues, the school is also focused on the other side of the equation — expenses, said Gouvin, adding that WNEU has become more efficient out of both desire and necessity.

“No one loves to see a downturn, but they often make you focus on things that maybe you took for granted,” he explained. “You look at things and ask yourself, ‘can we do that differently and better?’ And there have been several instances where we could.”

As examples, he listed merging some operations, such as the library and alumni services, with the university, and other steps that help avoid duplication of efforts.

“We have people in the law who are now what I would call utility players,” he noted. “They don’t say, ‘I do this, and this is all I do’; now it’s ‘I do whatever needs to be done to move the ball ahead.’”

Final Arguments

Gouvin said much of the conjecture regarding the decline in law-school enrollment concerns whether this all temporary, and if so, how temporary.

“That’s the million-dollar question,” he said, adding quickly that no one really knows the answer. Variables include everything from how much more the economy will rebound to when the Baby Boom-age (and older) attorneys will retire en masse (many have put retirement on hold because of the economy), and much more work traditionally handled by attorneys will instead be undertaken by paralegals and others without law degrees — an ongoing trend that has many in the industry concerned about job security.

While watching all these factors play out, law-school administrators have little choice but to adjust to a changing landscape and not merely hope that conditions will improve.

As Gouvin said, they have to make their case — and make it a compelling one.


George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Legal Landmines

By
Law Sections
Questions Can Cause Problems During Fitness-for-duty Exams

By CHANNEZ M. ROGERS, Esq.

Employers, beware of the questions you ask your employees during their annual fitness-for-duty examinations. All-too-familiar questions regarding family medical history and past trips to the hospital may run afoul of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) when posed by employers on questionnaires meant to determine whether employees can do their jobs.

Channez M. Rogers

Channez M. Rogers

“Have you or any of your family members had any of the following medical conditions?” This is a routine question we all answer at the doctor’s office without hesitation. However, for employers, this question in the context of an employee’s annual fitness-for-duty exam can be a minefield.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has found seemingly routine questions requesting family medical history, as part of an employer’s fitness-for-duty exam, violate the ADA and GINA.

GINA prohibits employers with 15 or more employees from using genetic information to make employment decisions, in order to protect an employee from adverse employment action because an employer thinks the employee is at an increased risk for developing a disease. Therefore, inquiries regarding family history used for the purpose of discovering an employee’s likelihood of having a certain disease or disorder violate GINA.

Likewise, the ADA prohibits employers with 15 or more employees from discriminating against employees based on a disability. Typically, the ADA does not allow for disability-related inquiries or medical examinations for current employees unless the employee has made the employer aware of a disability and requests an accommodation, or if the employer has noticed a change in the employee’s performance that makes him question the employee’s ability to do his job.

So, when may an employer ask health-related questions without violating the ADA or GINA?

Like GINA, the ADA carves out an exception for fitness-for-duty exams for employees in fields affecting public safety. Employers may require employees to submit to an annual fitness-for-duty exam in order to assess whether they are able to perform the essential functions of their jobs as long as there is a legitimate business reason for the inquiry. The purpose of the exam must be to gauge whether an employee is physically able to do his or her job or if the employee will pose a direct threat to safety due to a medical condition. The types of questions and the scope of the medical exam must be job-related and consistent with business necessity.

Appropriate Question Content

The EEOC found that the question regarding family history did not align with the ADA’s requirement that disability-related inquiries be narrowly tailored to address specific, job-related concerns. After all, the employee’s health matters, not her family’s. The question above was too broadly stated and required employees to reveal much more information than is necessary to address their ability to do their job.

Another question the EEOC cautioned employers against asking was whether an employee had been hospitalized overnight for any reason in the past five years. Such a question requires an employee to list any number of ailments or injuries that would require hospitalization, but may have nothing to do with the employee’s ability to do the job now. Additionally, requiring a five-year medical history across the board for employees asks them to reveal information about conditions that may not even affect their ability to work anymore.

A question regarding whether an employee has seen a doctor in the last year for anything other than a routine checkup also violates the ADA in that it is too general and does not address a specific, job-related concern. Instead, such an inquiry requires an employee to reveal private information about a medical condition that may be completely unrelated to the employee’s work, which should not be used to assess the employee’s ability to perform.

Even if no adverse action is taken against an employee, employers should beware of information they receive from a fitness-for-duty examination that might open the door to an obligation to engage in a conversation with the employee to determine whether or not he or she is entitled to a reasonable accommodation to aid in job performance (the interactive process). Absent a showing of undue hardship, which is very rare, an employer is required to provide a reasonable accommodation to an employee with an impairment who has requested and needs one.

Finally, employers should be aware that, if an employee is terminated based on information disclosed in response to a question on the fitness-for-duty form, the employee would likely fall under the protection of the ADA. As a result, the employer would be required to show that the employee could not perform the job’s essential functions or, where the concern is safety, that the employee would pose a “direct threat.”

In light of the EEOC’s explicit warnings regarding medical history and disability-related inquiries, employers would do well to tread lightly when asking questions that may be deemed too broad during their fitness-for-duty exams. When drafting questionnaires for fitness-for-duty exams, employers should carefully consider the employees’ job descriptions, pose only questions specifically related to the abilities required to successfully complete the work, and consult employment counsel with any questions.

Employers should specify on the forms for medical examination that they are only looking for certain information and request medical professionals do not provide anything beyond what is asked. This may ensure employers do not inadvertently receive too much information from third-party medical providers.

Finally, employers should make sure their managers and supervisors are up-to-date with their training to ensure that the interactive process is followed when necessary, and that no medical information is being used inappropriately.

Channez M. Rogers, Esq. is an attorney at Royal LLP, a woman-owned, SOMWBA-certified, boutique, management-side labor and employment law firm; (413) 586-2288; [email protected]

Filling the Holes in Medicare

By
Law Sections
Coverage May Be Unjustly Denied in Many Circumstances

By ANN I. WEBER, Esq. and MICHAEL A. FENTON, Esq.

Ann I. Weber

Ann I. Weber

Michael A. Fenton

Michael A. Fenton

Millions of seniors rely upon Medicare and supplemental Medigap policies to pay for hospital and skilled-nursing care, but many find out at the worst possible time that a big bill is due.

In particular, coverage may be unjustly denied when 1) a patient is admitted to a hospital under ‘observation status’ rather than as an inpatient, 2) a skilled-nursing-care facility declares that a patient has plateaued, or 3) a hospital stay exceeds 90 days for the same illness. If you or a loved one run into this type of problem, here is what you need to know.

Observation Status

Medicare Part A covers hospital inpatient stays for 60 days and skilled-nursing-home care for the first 20 days, but only if you are discharged from a hospital after admission as an inpatient for three days. If you are admitted under observation status, you are billed as an outpatient under Medicare Part B. Although Part B may cover most of your expenses in the hospital, patients who are discharged to a nursing home without the requisite three days as an inpatient will not be covered for their nursing-home stay.

Many hospitals have increasingly admitted patients under observation status for longer stays, even though the Medicare policy manual specifies 24 hours as a benchmark. Observation status has been extended to cover multi-day stays at the hospital with tests and procedures. If this happens to you, when you are discharged to a skilled-nursing home, you will be responsible for the cost of such care, frequently running at more than $400 per day.

Here’s what you can do:

• Be sure you have a healthcare proxy granting a trusted person access to your medical records and the authority to make medical decisions if you cannot do so;

• Find out your status;

• If you are classified as admitted under observation status and you believe that is incorrect, try to get your status changed by asking for a review or, if possible, a consultation with your community physician;

• If you are unsuccessful and able to safely return home, ask your hospital or community physician to order home care for you. This care will be covered by Medicare; and

• If you need skilled-nursing-home care, you will be responsible for paying privately, but, provided you have been hospitalized for at least three nights, you should initiate Medicare appeals relative to both the hospital and nursing-home stays. These appeals have been successful for people in this circumstance. Note that there is currently a federal case on appeal regarding notice and review procedures for patients placed on observation status to help prevent abuse.

Plateaued Patients

Medicare has long had a practice of denying coverage to patients in skilled-nursing homes who are not improving and have been deemed ‘plateaued.’ This is in spite of the fact that this ‘improvement standard’ does not appear anywhere in Medicare regulations or policies and is expressly contradicted, in the federal regulations, at 42 CFR 409.32(c), which states that “a patient may need skilled services to prevent further deterioration or to preserve current capabilities.” The improvement-standard policy has resulted in the denial of coverage for numerous patients with chronic conditions such as Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, diabetes, and more.

Now, under the settlement agreement in a Vermont district-court class-action case, Jimmo v. Sebelius, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has agreed to revise all publications and guidelines to explain that coverage will be provided to individuals who need skilled care to prevent or slow further deterioration. Nevertheless, some facilities are still using this criteria to move a patient to custodial nursing-home services, which are not covered at all by Medicare or Medigap policies.

Lifetime Days

For a hospital stay, Medicare will cover only the first 90 days for the same spell of illness under Medicare Part A. For days 1-60, you are billed a deductible, and for days 61-90, you are billed an additional co-pay. For the 91st day and beyond, you will be covered only if you have lifetime reserve days available (you get 60 lifetime reserve days that can be used at any time you go beyond the 90-day threshold).

Medicare is no help to patients who have exhausted their days during a hospital stay. This is why many people invest in a Medigap policy. These policies cover the deductibles and co-insurance payments. Also, under Section 8.B(3) of the NAIC Model Standards for Regulation of Medicare Supplemental Insurance, Medigap policies are required to provide patients with an additional 365 lifetime reserve days for hospital care.

Medigap policies cover only Medicare-approved expenses, and Medicare will deny your claim if lifetime reserved days are available but remain unused. Providers have been known to have faulty data when it comes to knowing the exact number of lifetime reserve days that remain for a particular patient. In this environment, lifetime reserve days are not always utilized properly, resulting in unjustly denied claims.

Conclusion

Should you or a loved one get a large or unexpected summary notice due to issues with any of the matters addressed in this article, a written notice containing the reasons for termination of Medicare coverage should be requested.

An appeal might be necessary. You may want to contact a knowledgeable attorney for assistance in the appeal.

Attorney Ann I. Weber is a partner with the Springfield-based law firm Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C., and concentrates her practice in the areas of estate-tax planning, estate administration, probate, and elder law. She has a particular interest in creative estate planning for authors, artists, farmers, and landowners. She has recently been named one of the “Top Fifty Women Lawyers in New England” by Super Lawyer magazine and is a frequent author and speaker on issues regarding estate planning; (413) 737-1131; www.ssfpc.com. Attorney Michael A. Fenton is an associate with Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C. He concentrates his practice in the areas of business law, real-estate development, and estate planning. He has served on the Springfield City Council since 2010; (413) 737-1131; www.ssfpc.com

Coming to Terms

By
Law Sections
EEOC Issues Enforcement Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination Act

By SUSAN G. FENTIN, Esq.

Employers’ obligations under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act made news in July when the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued new enforcement guidance on the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA). This announcement from the EEOC follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s July 1 decision agreeing to hear Young v. UPS, a case that arises out of an employer’s decisions regarding a pregnant employee who was unable to perform the essential functions of her position.

SUSAN G. FENTIN

Susan G. Fentin

The PDA was enacted to extend the protections of Title VII to encompass pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, considering discrimination based on those circumstances to be a form of sex discrimination in violation of Title VII. The issue in the Young case involves a UPS policy that limits light-duty assignments to individuals with work-related injuries or those who are considered disabled under the ADA. UPS denied a light-duty assignment to Ms. Young because her lifting restrictions were not work-related and she was not considered disabled under the ADA, with the result that she was forced to take unpaid leave from her job.

Her suit against UPS was dismissed on the grounds that a pregnant worker with a temporary lifting restriction isn’t “similar in her ability or inability to work” to the other types of employees for whom UPS willingly provided light duty. UPS successfully argued that its policy is “pregnancy blind” and therefore not discriminatory. The Appeals Court decision dismissing the case was appealed to the Supreme Court, which has accepted the case for its 2014-15 term.

Significantly, the new enforcement guidance specifically covers the issue pending before the court: whether a pregnant employee is entitled to light duty if her employer would grant a light-duty assignment to other workers who are subject to the same work restrictions.

The EEOC Guidance

Although the EEOC’s PDA enforcement guidance does not have the force of law, it’s generally considered persuasive by the federal courts. So the provisions of this new guidance are significant for employers who are considering their obligations to their pregnant workers. Much of the guidance restates an employer’s existing obligations to its pregnant employees:

• The PDA and Title VII protect women who are currently or have been pregnant, could potentially or are trying to become pregnant, and medical conditions that result from pregnancy;

• Employers may not make decisions about pregnant employees based on stereotypes, assumptions, or fears that a pregnant worker could harm herself or her baby by continuing to work;

• Employees who are breastfeeding are also considered protected under Title VII;

• Employers may not discriminate against employees who have had or are contemplating an abortion; and

• Employers are cautioned against making employment decisions based on a woman’s potential caregiving responsibilities.

Potentially Problematic Provisions

However, some of the provisions of the new guidance could be potentially problematic for employers. The guidance states that even a seemingly neutral policy, such as a weight-lifting requirement, could have a disproportionate impact on pregnant women.

Although such cases generally require statistically significant data, the guidance suggests that such evidence might not be required if all or substantially all pregnant women would be negatively affected by the policy. To defend such a claim, an employer must be able to show that the requirement is “necessary to safe and efficient job performance,” and even then, an employer can still be held liable if there is a less discriminatory alternative, but the employer refuses to implement it.

Similarly, a company policy, such as the UPS policy in Young, can be considered a violation of the PDA if it denies light duty or other accommodations to pregnant women while granting those benefits to other employees with similar restrictions. The guidance specifically states that that a pregnant worker with a work restriction who is denied light duty can establish a case of discrimination by identifying any other employee, including employees injured on the job and/or covered by the ADA, who is similar in his or her ability or inability to work and who was accommodated or granted light-duty work. In this section of the guidance, the EEOC specifically rejected the idea that an employer does not have to provide light duty for a pregnant worker if it has a policy that limits light duty to workers injured on the job and/or to employees with disabilities under the ADA.

In addition, the new guidance states that a policy that restricts sick leave might also have a disparate impact on pregnant women, citing examples where a 10-day ceiling on sick leave and a policy denying sick leave during the first year of employment have been found to disparately impact pregnant women. The guidance also underscores the impact of the 2008 amendments to the ADA, noting that, while pregnancy itself is not a disability, pregnancy-related impairments may be disabilities under the new version of that statute.

Of course, this is not news to Massachusetts employers, who have long been required to consider pregnancy-related conditions as disabilities under state law. And the guidance specifically states that an employer’s health-insurance plan must cover “prescription contraceptives on the same basis as prescription drugs, devices, and services that are used to prevent the occurrence of medical conditions other than pregnancy,” although the EEOC concedes that it does not address whether an employer may maintain a religious exemption from this requirement, as dictated in the Supreme Court’s recent Hobby Lobby decision.

The new enforcement guidance is available at www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/pregnancy_guidance.cfm. The EEOC has also published a fact sheet for small employers at www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/publications/pregnancy_factsheet.cfm.

Bottom Line

Employers should exercise caution when making decisions about the ability of pregnant employees to perform the essential functions of their positions. If an employer cannot accommodate any worker with a lifting restriction, regardless of whether or not that employee is female and pregnant, then a claim for failure to accommodate or pregnancy discrimination will not likely be successful.

But employers who limit their light-duty policies to those with work-related injuries should be careful about denying a light-duty position to a pregnant worker with work restrictions. And Massachusetts employers should continue to engage in the interactive process with their pregnant workers to determine whether there are any accommodations that would allow a pregnant worker with a restriction to perform the essential functions of her job.

Attorney Susan G. Fentin is a partner at Springfield-based Skoler, Abbott & Presser. Her practice concentrates on labor and employment counseling, advising large and small employers on their responsibilities and obligations under state and federal employment laws, and representing employers before state and federal agencies and in court. She speaks frequently to employer groups, conducts training on avoiding problems in employment law, and teaches master classes on both the FMLA and ADA; (413) 737-4753; [email protected]

Decisions, Decisions

By
Employment Sections
Three Recent Rulings Issued by the MCAD Are Ones to Remember

By PETER VICKERY

Is a worker who had a heart attack ‘handicapped’ in the legal sense of the word? Is a manager handicapped even if he can work nine hours a day, five days a week? Can a professor win $200,000 in emotional-distress damages without presenting any medical records as evidence? According to the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD), the answer to all three questions is ‘yes.’

Our Commonwealth’s fair-employment-practices law, Chapter 151B, prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religious creed, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, ancestry, or handicap. The agency that has the job of adjudicating complaints under that law is the MCAD. If the MCAD finds probable course, the case goes to a public hearing. If the losing side appeals, it goes to the full commission. Either side can seek judicial review of the full commission’s decision.

Although the MCAD is not a court, its opinions influence the way judges interpret the statute. The judiciary tends to defer to the MCAD’s view of the scope and meaning of Chapter 151B — not always, but often enough. So when the full commission issues a decision, it matters.

Three of the decisions that the full commission issued over the past 12 months provide employers with some useful pointers about the legal presumptions and interpretations MCAD’s hearing officers use, and the potential cost of not knowing what they are. In all three cases, the hearing officer awarded the employee damages for emotional distress, the full commission affirmed the award, and it took at least five years from filing the complaint to the commission’s final decision — in one case, nine years. In addition to those commonalities, each of the three decisions is noteworthy in its own right.

Glynn v. Massasoit Industrial Corp.

One of the key questions in this case was whether the employee had a handicap. Chapter 151B defines a handicap primarily as “a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities of a person.” In the context of the statute’s ban against discrimination on the basis of immutable characteristics such as gender, race, ethnicity, and national origin, a reasonable reader could infer that the Legislature meant to prohibit discrimination against people with lifelong (or at least lengthy) disabilities.

But the way the MCAD interprets the word, an ‘impairment’ does not have to be permanent to qualify as a handicap. Even a temporary impairment may qualify, as in the case of 74-year old Mr. Glynn, who suffered pneumonia and a heart attack leading to a one-month hospital stay. Glynn’s employer terminated him, allegedly for his failure to show up at work or to call in.

A supervisor testified that the company had not known the reason for Glynn’s absence. But the testimony the hearing officer found more credible was that of Glynn’s daughter-in-law, who said that she had visited the workplace twice to explain about the pneumonia, heart attack, and hospitalization.

The hearing officer took into account Glynn’s 22 years of service with the company, his age, plus the difficulty of finding another job at age 74, and decided that he deserved compensatory damages of $54,600. Based on Glynn’s testimony about how he felt after losing his job (lost, lonely, and disappointed) she awarded him $35,000 for emotional distress. As well as affirming the damages, the full commission ordered the employer to pay almost $52,000 in legal fees and costs. In total, the company had to pay just under $142,000. This six-figure price tag should help serve as a reminder that even temporary ailments can constitute a handicap.

The MCAD has a duty to construe Chapter 151B liberally, which as a practical matter tends to help employees and hurt employers. The Legislature wrote this liberal-construction rule into the text of the law, but there are some equally important rules that do not appear in the statute itself. They have emerged through the common-law process of judges applying the law to individual cases.

Anderson v. UPS

One such rule, which employers may think of as a thumb on the scales in favor of employees, made its presence felt in Anderson v. UPS, namely the broad presumption in favor of finding individuals disabled.

A manager asked his employer to reassign him to the day shift because working 12-hour shifts at night exacerbated his bipolar depression and anxiety disorder. Noting that Mr. Anderson said that, despite his condition, he could work nine hours a day, five days a week, the company determined that he was not legally handicapped and refused to engage in a discussion with him. Instead, it terminated him. This was a mistake, and quite an expensive one.

In combination, the statutory liberal-construction rule and the judge-made presumption in favor of finding individuals disabled tilted the scales heavily against UPS. Applying those two principles, the MCAD hearing officer found that Anderson was handicapped, and that UPS should have realized as much on the basis of the medical records describing his symptoms in detail, plus his lengthy hospital stays.

Because Anderson was handicapped in the Chapter 151B sense of the word, the MCAD held that UPS should have engaged in an interactive dialogue about providing reasonable accommodations. The failure to do so led to an award of approximately $575,000 in damages (including $125,000 for emotional distress), $8,000 in costs, and legal fees of $90,000, for a grand total of $673,000.

Anderson v. UPS shows that, even if an employee can put in a full working week, the employer should not conclude, on that basis alone, that the employee is outside the definition of ‘handicapped.’ That employee may still be entitled to Chapter 151B protection as a ‘qualified handicapped person,’ triggering the employer’s duty to engage in a good-faith, two-way discussion about reasonable accommodations.

Lulu Sun v. UMass Dartmouth

Liberal construction and the presumption in favor of deeming employees disabled are legal principles that affect the cost of day-to-day decisions in the workplace. The third case, Lulu Sun v. UMass Dartmouth, highlights the impact of another rule: the deference that the full commission accords to the hearing officer’s decisions about witness credibility.

In this case, a professor filed two complaints against her employer, UMass Dartmouth. One alleged that the university had denied her promotion on the basis of her gender, race/ancestry, and national origin, and the second alleged retaliation. The professor prevailed at the hearing, and, in addition to awarding damages, the hearing officer ordered UMass to promote her to full professor, pay a civil penalty of $10,000, and undergo training.

UMass appealed only the civil penalty, the training, and the emotional-distress award, which amounted to $200,000. At the root of the emotional-distress award was the hearing officer’s assessment of the credibility of the professor and her witnesses (the professor’s father and two faculty members) regarding her sleeplessness, timidity, a rash on her hands and legs, and her loss of both weight and verve. The hearing officer stated, “the vivacity, confidence, and vigor the complainant exhibited prior to the events at issue are hard to square with the fragile and wan woman who presented herself for public hearing.”

Pointing to the dearth of medical evidence, UMass challenged the emotional-distress damages. But the full commission upheld the $200,000 figure and awarded attorneys’ fees of almost $425,000.

It is important to note that the commissioners do not rehear the case, so they are not in a position to see the witnesses in the flesh. Instead, in a rule that works somewhat like a presumption, they defer to the hearing officer. As it noted in Lulu Sun, the commission shows “great deference” to the hearing officer’s decisions about the credibility of witnesses, the weighing of disputed issues of fact, and the assessment of damages. So unless it concludes that the officer’s decision was arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise unlawful, the commission will affirm that decision.

The main lesson of this case is simple: live testimony matters. The physical appearance and demeanor of a complainant-employee and the way witnesses comport themselves under questioning are factors that the hearing officer will take into account, both in deciding liability and calculating damages. Because the full commission will defer to the officer on these matters, employers would be wise — particularly when sums in the half-million-dollar range are at stake — to treat MCAD hearings as make-or-break events.

Bottom Line

In summary, these three cases help remind employers that: (1) hearings matter, and persuading the full commission to overturn the decision of the hearing officer is an uphill battle; (2) the MCAD can — and does — award damages for emotional distress, sometimes six-figure sums; and (3) even before judicial review, the amount of time likely to elapse between the employee filing the complaint and the full Commission rendering a decision may be upward of five years.

Sometimes, of course, this last point redounds to the employer’s advantage, so long as management and counsel alike prepare themselves for a marathon, not a sprint.


Peter Vickery, Esq., practices law in Amherst; www.petervickery.com

A Word on Employee Handbooks

By
Employment Sections
Beware Some of the Many Costly Mistakes Employers Make

By Kathryn S. Crouss, Esq.

Kathryn S. Crouss, Esq.

Kathryn S. Crouss, Esq.

Employee handbooks communicate employers’ expectations to employees. While such manuals are not required, they are recommended.

Having formal, written procedures in place will reduce the possibility of confusion regarding company policy, thereby enabling employers to spend less time, energy, and money explaining rules and regulations.

Handbooks also serve as good references regarding applicable federal, state, and local law, which lessens employers’ exposure to litigation. As such, it is good practice to be cognizant of the current laws in force, make note of any changes or new developments, and adjust policies accordingly. The best advice regarding employee handbooks is to develop a good organizational style, so that the handbook is user-friendly, and avoid using overly broad or narrow language.

Some suggested topics to focus on include:

Sexual Harassment Policy

Employers can be held liable for sexual harassment on the part of their employees in certain circumstances. If an employer is found to have been aware of sexually harassing conduct from one co-worker to another, and did not act reasonably to prevent it, the employer can be held liable for the behavior. For this reason, employers are well advised to adopt a policy against sexual harassment.

The policy should include a description and examples of sexual harassment, provide a description of the process for filing a complaint, and state that it is unlawful to retaliate against someone for filing a complaint. Employees should be required to sign an acknowledgment of their understanding of the policy, which employers should keep in each employee’s personnel file.

E-mail and Internet Use Policy

A good employee handbook should include a comprehensive e-mail and Internet use policy. Recent case law suggests that employers may be liable for the conduct of their employees when they use the company’s e-mail and Internet connections. However, courts also recognize that employees have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the workplace.

A good e-mail and Internet policy will clearly outline the employer’s expectations regarding Internet and e-mail usage in the workplace, to avoid conflict between the two competing interests. Such a policy should:

• Inform employees whether personal use of the Internet or e-mail is permitted. It is advisable to prohibit all personal use of Internet and electronic mail on company time and equipment.

• Advise employees that their Internet and e-mail activity is monitored.

• Inform employees what uses of e-mail and Internet are prohibited.

• Develop an easy process for employees to report mistakes or violations.

• Provide employees with information regarding the consequences of violating the e-mail and Internet use policy.

As with an employer’s sexual harassment policy in a handbook, employers are advised to require employees to sign a statement acknowledging receipt of the policy.

Other Topics to Include

The handbook should explain that eEmployee health benefits may be continued at the employee’s expense for up to 18 months after a voluntary or involuntary termination (for employers with 20 or more employees) through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). At the state level (often referred to as mini-COBRA), Massachusetts continued coverage is available for the same amount of time for employers with two to 19 employees.

A good handbook will also address workers’ compensation, at-will employment, anti-discrimination policies, sick and personal days, vacation time (Massachusetts employers are not required to pay terminated employees for unused sick or personal days, but unused vacation time is considered wages and must be paid upon termination), the Family Medical Leave Act, access to personnel files (in Massachusetts, employees have the right to access their records within five days of submitting a written request), and jury-duty leave (in Massachusetts, if an employee is scheduled to work for three months prior to the jury duty, he or she is entitled to regular wages for the first three days of jury-duty leave).

Avoiding the Contract Trap

Employers should include a clause in the handbook stating that nothing in the handbook constitutes an employment contract. Courts now find that an employee handbook can be construed as an employment contract, binding the employer to certain obligations. For example, an employer’s failure to adhere to a handbook policy regarding progressive discipline may be used as evidence of an improper termination.

Therefore, it is critical that employers be familiar with their own employee handbook and ensure that its practices conform to the stated policies. It is also important that the language in a handbook is flexible enough to allow employers to alter and adjust such policies as needed. Consequently, employers are urged to invest some effort and carefully draft their employee handbooks to reflect their business needs.

To prevent an employee handbook from being considered a contract:

• Retaining the right to unilaterally modify the contact;

• Do not negotiate any terms of the handbook with the employee;

• Make sure the handbook provides only guidance to employees regarding the company’s policies;

• Make sure the handbook never states a term or length of employment;

• Call special attention to the handbook during the hiring process; and

• Do not require that the employee sign the handbook.

If you need assistance with drafting or reviewing your employee handbook, you are urged to contact an attorney or an employment specialist.

Kathryn S. Crouss, Esq. is a member of Bacon Wilson’s litigation department and handles all aspects of civil litigation, including employee- and management-side employment-law litigation, personal injury, and domestic-relations litigation; (413) 781-0560; baconwilson.com/attorneys/crouss

Expo Planners Mean Business

By
Features
Annual Show Will Put the Spotlight on Entrepreneurship

WMBExpoComcastDateOrganizers of the Western Mass. Business Expo, slated for Oct. 29 at the MassMutual Center, are finalizing elements of the show, which will certainly have an entrepreneurial flair to it.

Indeed, the highly successful pitch contest, which made its debut at the 2013 Expo, will be staged again this year. Organized by Valley Venture Mentors (VVM), the contest, as the name suggests, features entrepreneurs with developing ventures pitching their ideas to a panel of judges — with $3,000 in prize money on the line.

This year’s contest will likely feature fewer presenting ventures — perhaps five as opposed to the 10 last year — which should allow for more give and take between those presenting the pitches and those who will judge them, said VVM President Scott Foster, adding that this will likely produce what he called a “Shark Tank effect — only nicer.”

Meanwhile, this year’s slate of educational seminars will include a track on entrepreneurship. The roster is still being finalized, but it will feature some of the region’s rising stars offering insight into what it takes to succeed in business today.

Delcie Bean, founder and president of Paragus Strategic IT, one of the fastest-growing technology companies in the country, will be among those presenting interactive programs designed to inform and inspire those in attendance.

“Through initiatives like VVM, this region is putting a great deal of emphasis on entrepreneurship and growing organically by spurring the creation and growth of new small businesses,” said BusinessWest Associate Publisher Kate Campiti. “For the 2014 show, Expo organizers wanted to add momentum to these efforts by showcasing new business ventures through the pitch contest and relaying success stories written by some of the region’s noted entrepreneurs.

“These are people who have taken risks, beaten the long odds on making it in today’s highly competitive global economy, and have much to share with Expo attendees,” she went on. “These will be compelling stories that will hopefully inspire others to reach high.”

As the entrepreneurship track comes together, so do other elements of the show, which is expected to draw more than 150 exhibitors and 2,500 attendees, said Campiti. The other seminar tracks are professional development and sales and marketing, and those programs are being finalized as well, she said, as are the Show Floor Theater presentations.

The Women’s Professional Chamber of Commerce has announced that Patricia Diaz Dennis, retired senior vice president and assistant general counsel for AT&T and commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission during the Reagan administration, has been confirmed as the luncheon speaker.

Dennis, a member of the board of directors at MassMutual, is a highly sought-after speaker, whose broad résumé also includes service on the National Labor Relations Board, a stint as assistant secretary of State for human rights and humanitarian affairs, a three-year term as chair of the Girl Scouts of America, and a lengthy stint on the Texas State University System Board of Regents.

At AT&T, from which she retired in 2008, she was responsible for corporate litigation, procurement, corporate real estate, environmental corporate compliance, IT, and trademark and copyright legal matters. Before joining AT&T in 1995, Dennis was special counsel to Sullivan & Cromwell for communications matters in the international law firm’s Washington, D.C. office. From 1989 to 1991, she was a partner and head of the communications section of the Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue law firm.

One of the highlights of previous shows has been the day-ending Expo Social, said Campiti, adding that it has become one of the best networking opportunities of the year. This year’s social, to be sponsored by MGM Springfield and Northwestern Mutual, will be no exception.

Other sponsors include Presenting Sponsor Comcast Business; Silver Sponsors DIF Design, Health New England, and Johnson & Hill Staffing Services; and Education Sponsor the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst.

For more information on the event, visit www.businesswest.com or www.wmbexpo.com. n

Promising Venture

By
Entrepreneurship Sections
MassMutual Invests in Springfield’s Entrepreneurial Future

Nick Fyntrilakis

Nick Fyntrilakis says economic growth in Western Mass. is more likely to spring from a culture of startups than by attracting large employers.

Nick Fyntrilakis says economic growth in Western Mass. is more likely to spring from a culture of startups than by attracting large employers.
[/caption]It’s not inconceivable, said Nick Fyntrilakis, for a company to set down roots in Springfield and advertise for 300 or 400 jobs. It’s just not likely.

“When you look around here, the idea of getting one company to show up with 300 jobs, that’s an old notion,” Fyntrilakis, vice president of Community Responsibility at MassMutual, told BusinessWest. “That’s gone, at least somewhat, the way of the dinosaur, although I hope it’s not totally gone.”

Rather, he said, “the economy is being driven by small businesses, grass-roots growth, and entrepreneurialism — not 300 people at one firm, but maybe 30 10-person firms.”

But even if that is the new paradigm in Western Mass., communities can’t sit around waiting for those companies to spring up, he added, which is why MassMutual, the region’s largest employer, is investing $6.5 million into efforts to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurial success stories.

MassMutual is pouring $5 million of that money into the creation of the Springfield Venture Fund, attempting to cultivate high-potential startups in Springfield. Over the next five years, the fund will invest in startups with business operations currently located in or willing to relocate to Springfield. Target companies will have a defined product or service, be no more than three years old, and boast strong management teams, well-defined and scalable business plans, and high growth potential.

In addition, MassMutual will invest more than $1.5 million over the next three years in a startup accelerator managed by Valley Venture Mentors (VVM), an entrepreneur-mentoring network based in Springfield. The first class of the accelerator will feature 30 startups to be selected through a competitive application process later this summer. DevelopSpringfield, a nonprofit dedicated to revitalizing the city, has been tasked with building out the physical location for the accelerator in the Tower Square building downtown.

“We’re building off a mentorship program that we’ve been running now for three and a half years,” said Scott Foster, an attorney with Bulkley Richardson and president of VVM. More than 45 startups have gone through that program, and more than 350 established entrepreneurs, business owners, and professionals have volunteered as mentors at its monthly meetings.

“We had 25 people at the first meeting, and 150 at the most recent one,” he added, noting that the gathering began in a conference room at his law firm but soon had to relocate to the Tower Square food court. “We’ve really built a great community of mentors and people supporting entrepreneurship. The accelerator is just a natural extension of what we’re already doing.”

For this issue’s focus on entrepreneurship, BusinessWest talks to Fyntrilakis and Foster about why MassMutual’s investment makes sense in the long term, and why they believe the Springfield Venture Fund and the VVM accelerator will generate some needed energy and forward momentum in the City of Homes.

Driving Growth

MassMutual’s decision to invest $6.5 million in efforts to nurture entrepreneurship didn’t come about overnight, Fyntrilakis said, but after many conversations with Valley Venture Mentors, River Valley Investors, and other regional organizations dedicated to giving startups the resources they need to succeed.

“I was really excited to learn how much they had achieved, really organically,” he said of VVM. “They started in some vacant office space and grew this thing into a successful operation in which more than 150 people show up once a month, either to participate themselves or be a mentor — or sometimes just listen in and learn.”

Impressed, MassMutual provided a small grant to VVM, but didn’t stop there. “We started having more robust conversations over time, and I started to learn more and more about the entrepreneurial community that exists in this region, and other folks, like River Valley Investors, who are out there making investments in companies,” Fyntrilakis said.

“One thing that struck me is that you could dictate geography based on angel investments,” he added. “You could drive growth to a particular region based on the capital being there. That was exciting.”

With that in mind, the Springfield Venture Fund will target companies that will either locate or relocate in Springfield, he said. “We want them to plant roots here. It’s about being in the city of Springfield.”

Although the nuts and bolts of distributing $5 million over several years is still being worked out, Fyntrilakis said MassMutual doesn’t envision a traditional application process, but a more organic effort to connect with, and receive referrals from, the existing entrepreneurial community, which includes entities like VVM as well as large, for-profit companies.

“As for criteria, the startup has to have some infrastructure in place, a proven product or service, and a scalable market. This is that initial seed capital that can really get them off the ground and up to the next level,” he explained, adding that, if the fund is successful, MassMutual might have conversations down the road about continuing and increasing the investment.

Scott Foster

Scott Foster joins other entrepreneurship and economic-development leaders during Gov. Deval Patrick’s visit to the new accelerator space.

Meanwhile, the accelerator will accept applications from mid-August through September. The 30 accepted startups will be notified in November, and will operate from January through April in a co-working space being developed at the former Mad Maggies pool hall in Tower Square.

At the end of the four months, VVM will award $200,000 to the six startups that have shown the greatest success, judged according to how well they met their goals — and how ambitious those goals were to begin with. “There’s a degree-of-difficulty factor,” Foster said. Several startups will be invited to continue using the accelerator space rent-free for the rest of 2015.

He noted that the accelerator draws plenty of inspiration from MassChallenge, an annual, Boston-based startup competition and accelerator program. “There had been a discussion among business people here to have some kind of business-plan competition, some kind of program to help out new businesses in this area. Once MassChallenge started having success, people saw the economic impact on Massachusetts.

“We’re unabashedly copying what MassChallenge has done,” he added. “We’ve even reached out to MassChallenge, they’re very excited about what we’re doing.”

Foster stressed that the accelerator program will be “industry-agnostic” when considering applicants.

“We know there are strengths in this area; precision manufacturing, healthcare, and financial services are fairly strong,” he said. “But we don’t want to pre-emptively discourage anyone from applying. Teams that come through our mentorship program really run the gamut, from food-based companies to tech firms to Internet companies moving to a more bricks-and-mortar type of service. We’ve seen a wide variety of companies on the mentorship side, and we expect similar variety in the accelerator.”

Meanwhile, nonprofits are just as eligible to apply as for-profit enterprises.

“MassChallenge emphasizes diversity of ideas, diversity of talent, diversity of perspectives,” he noted. “It just adds to the strength and creative ideas there. If you only hang out with people who act like you, think like you, and agree with you, it can be a recipe for disaster.”

Buzz Words

The give-and-take cultivated in a vibrant accelerator creates a buzz that shouldn’t be underestimated, Foster said.

“It creates an energy. People want to be in the space, or want to be involved as mentors,” he said, noting that he expects participants to reflect a similar demographic mix as VVM’s mentorship program, which attracts entrepreneurs from their 20s to their 50s.

And mentors don’t have to be industry-specific, he added. “They have private-sector experience with things all startups need — how to make connections with customers, how to deal with employee issues, how to divide up equity with partners … these are common themes across all businesses.”

No matter how big or small, Fyntrilakis said.

“This really is where job growth is coming from; growth in the economy is coming from the entrepreneurial sector and small-business sector; it’s not coming from the old-line companies adding thousands of employees. Even beyond this region, it’s mostly smaller firms.

“We wanted to capitalize on that, so we’re helping them with capital, helping them with mentoring,” he continued. “Our hope is that, in the next five years, we’ll create at least 100 jobs as a result of this capital being available. In addition to that, we want to support Valley Venture Mentors in their work.”

Foster said MassMutual’s major investment is further validation of what the organization and others like it have been doing. “It reminds people of the importance and reward of supporting entrepreneurs. They’re seeing VVM as a very positive force in this area, something they want to support.

“It also gives us a much bigger megaphone to announce our support of entrepreneurs here in the Pioneer Valley as a whole, and to encourage more and more people to explore their dreams and ideas, see if they can launch them and grow them. It’s pretty darn exciting.”

Smiling, Fyntrilakis laid out a vision of teams of entrepreneurs clustered downtown, working all hours of the night, drinking coffee, and creating something new — and perhaps providing a lift to further economic development in Springfield’s center.

“I think the accelerator can be an epicenter, stimulating other activities, like a chicken-and-egg thing, whether it’s restaurants or retail shops,” he said. “Hopefully we get enough chickens and eggs.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at  [email protected]

Drawing on Experience

By
Sections Technology
Anzovin Studio Stays on the Cutting Edge of Animation Technology

By KEVIN FLANDERS

Raf Anzovin, left, and David Boutilier

Raf Anzovin, left, and David Boutilier, with an image they created for an American Canoe Assoc. public service announcement.

Raf Anzovin, president of Northampton-based Anzovin Studio, has discovered that success in the animation industry comes to those who push their businesses to the edge — the cutting edge of technology.

Dedicated to supplying an array of services to clients while regularly improving the tools with which they create their products, the Anzovin Studio staff has mastered an ingenious two-pronged approach. Even when business is thriving, the company challenges itself to refine its practices and streamline its productivity, which serves to benefit both artists and clients.

“It’s amazing to look back and see how far animation has come in the last 15 years,” said Anzovin, who opened the studio in 2000 with his father, Steven Anzovin. “When you compare movies like the first Toy Story to current movies, you’ll see a huge difference in the quality of the characters and the exactness in the way they move. The industry has progressed in leaps and bounds in terms of the quality you’re expected to create. Something that would have been considered good in the ’90s would be viewed as well below average today.”

With that truth constantly in mind, Anzovin and his staff strive each year to develop new software that not only benefits Anzovin Studio artists but also draws the interest of clients. One of the studio’s latest and most successful software products, Anzovin Rig Tools, is expected to provide major advances in the area of character rigging. Because Anzovin’s software programmers and artists work in close collaboration, each new plug-in tool and application serves a specific need, with the ultimate goal of making computer-animated characters as seamless and believable as possible.

“We’re very excited about it — this particular area of animation hasn’t had significant upgrades since the ’90s,” Anzovin said of the new product, which has not yet been brought to market.

If the success of the studio’s previous products is any indication, then Anzovin Rig Tools will be utilized by some of the most prominent players in the industry. In past years, companies like Dreamworks, Disney, and Sony have bought Anzovin’s products, while the studio has consulted with clients like Microsoft, EA, and Hasbro.

“There are certain areas like character rigging where we are really pushing the technology,” added Anzovin, who takes pride in spearheading technological advances.

In short, he told BusinessWest, companies that fail to keep up with the breakneck speed of invention in this industry find it doesn’t take long to fall behind.

Products on All Platforms

In addition to its software-design work, Anzovin Studio produces educational and entertainment content through several media each year. Its art can be seen in everything from commercials to public-service announcements to video games, depending on the client and the request.

Last year, the studio supplied animation for a PSA run by the American Canoe Assoc., a piece that employed cartoon-like characters to convey water-safety tips in a unique manner.

“A lot of times, clients come to us looking to create PSAs that get the point across but also have entertainment value,” said Jake Mazonson, an artist and producer at the studio. “Animation is a good tool to communicate information in a fun, engaging way.”

Anzovin said the studio usually produces art for a handful of TV commercials each year, but that number might rise in future years, because the amount of content featuring animation is expected to increase. With the popularity of video sharing and downloading, the Internet is also a source of boundless potential for animators, especially when distributed across social-media platforms.

Meanwhile, video games have generated solid business as well, with the studio providing cut-scene animations for such games as Halo II, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Da Vinci Code, The Sims Medieval, and Mercenaries II, among others.

“One of the great things about animation is that it can be used as a communication tool but also for entertainment — we often bring those two aspects together in our projects,” Anzovin said.

But the staff’s emphasis isn’t always on fun and entertainment when it comes to video games. The studio frequently contributes animations for instructional games and programs designed for individuals preparing to deal with hazardous law-enforcement and military situations. A recently released training program for the Department of Defense, for example, included art created by Anzovin’s staff to help simulate civilian populations in various locations. The tool will help soldiers learn how to defuse potentially dangerous encounters in highly populated areas.

“It’s really nice when we can help solve problems and serve social purposes,” added Mazonson, who is excited to be working on a new project with the American Canoe Assoc. — an animated memoir of individuals recounting their stories from the water. The project will be funded by a grant allocated by the U.S. Coast Guard.

How It Works

The concepts and methods that drive computer animation can be a little tricky to understand — if not downright mind-boggling at times — but Mazonson described the complexities of creating character-rigging products in remarkably simple terms.

“It’s a lot like making a puppet, with the strings and all of the different parts,” he told BusinessWest. “You have to figure out how to arrange everything in such a way that others will be able to use it.”

Anzovin believes one of the major keys to successful animation is to become a master of movement. Many movie animators have perfected the art to such a degree that, from a distance, animated characters can often be mistaken for actors. Their movements are swift and natural, seemingly enhanced with each movie.

“The goal is to present movement in a believable way,” Anzovin said. “One of the things that movies like Frozen and Tangled do well is combine the subtleties that are possible in computer animation with the graphic quality of movement. At times, you’re trying to create something that is more lifelike and exciting than life itself.”

So how long does it take to create such vivid animations? In terms of average project length — from the initial design stages to completion — a variety of factors come into play. Sometimes a project can be finished in just a few weeks, while other endeavors can last up to two years.

“It depends on the scope of the project and what the client is asking for,” said David Boutilier, vice president of Anzovin Studio. “Every project has a different script and style, and each client has a different level of experience. Some people are experts, while others only have a little experience in animation. All of those things affect how long it takes.”

ACAmasterComp00172

Above, imagery created by Anzovin Studio for the American Canoe Assoc. Below, animation created for client Squelch Inc.

Above, imagery created by Anzovin Studio for the American Canoe Assoc. Below, animation created for client Squelch Inc.

Raf Anzovin never spent a day in a college classroom, but he wound up teaching collegiate courses. He didn’t attend high school, either. Homeschooled and self-taught in the world of computer animation, he found this industry to be an open road for an 18-year-old going into business with his father. The possibilities offered in this new, exciting, undeveloped terrain were limitless, the perfect career choice for technologically inclined artists like Anzovin whose passion and ambition are matched only by their creativity.

“Everything was just starting up back then — a wild west,” he recalls. “Even if you had basic abilities in animation, you could make a name for yourself. Everything has come a long way since then.”

After exploring various institutions, Anzovin decided not to attend college because there weren’t many computer-animation programs available. Instead, he went to work with his father, starting off in Amherst and eventually moving into the studio’s current Nonotuck Mill office in 2009. Now, five years after calling the Florence section of Northampton home, the business has become an industry leader in technological innovation, with major companies routinely turning to Anzovin and his staff for consultation.

“The tools you have determine how quickly you can produce things, which is one of the reasons why we create our own products,” Anzovin said. “Animation is a very time-consuming process, but the way we approach it, by developing our own tools, certainly gives us an advantage.”

Added Mazonson, “technology and art are constantly interacting with everything we do.”

Branching Out

Over the next few years, Anzovin hopes to continue consulting with his studio’s partners and also to build new relationships, preferably with local businesses. As one of the only companies in the region focusing heavily on character animation, most of its clients are based outside Massachusetts, many of them in different time zones.

“I think one of the reasons [for the low number of local clients] is a lack of exposure,” Mazonson said. “A lot of people don’t know there’s an animation studio right here in Western Mass.”

One project that might help raise the studio’s profile  will take place in the coming year — a collaboration with representatives from Google. Though Anzovin couldn’t get into much detail about the project, he said it will likely involve mobile devices and the creation of tools.

Judging by how far animation has progressed in the last decade, in addition to Anzovin Studio’s commitment to innovation, the company will likely be redefining industry standards for years to come.

Bankruptcies

By
Bankruptcies Departments

The following bankruptcy petitions were recently filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Readers should confirm all information with the court.

Affordable Flooring
Minchuk, David V.
172 Meadow St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/23/14

Baush, Deborah Ann
53 Park Slope
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/30/14

Bean, Daniel R.
157 Nottingham Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/18/14

Beauregard, Jeffrey B.
41 Lawler St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/27/14

Beer, Deborah A.
a/k/a Frigon, Deborah A.
102 Old Gilbertville Road
Ware, MA 01082
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/18/14

Bernardes, Rui A.
128 Haviland St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 06/29/14

Boland, John F.
440 Chapin St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/19/14

Borden, William J.
Borden, Susan M.
38 Anita Dr.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/16/14

Burke, Geraldine A.
a/k/a Calcasola, Geraldine A.
a/k/a Wright, Geraldine A.
123 Wachusett St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/17/14

Casineau, Eric J.
23 Mallowhill Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/27/14

Cody, Bethany M.
50 Shepherd St., Apt. B
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/24/14

Cole, George C.
34 Warrington St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 06/24/14

Collamore, Donna M.
20 Weymouth St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 06/25/14

Collins, Joanne M.
1003 North Westfield St.
Feeding Hills, MA 01030
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/26/14

Correa, Alba N.
22 Desrosiers St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/27/14

Deleo, Matthew
63 Adams St.
Orange, MA 01364
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/27/14

Echeverria, Brigitte E.
1539 Allen St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/18/14

Falcha, James J.
a/k/a Falcha, J. J.
P.O. Box 828
Otis, MA 01253
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/16/14

Fernandez, Joel R.
22 Desrosiers St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/27/14

Gadecki, Edward
138 Pine St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/19/14

George, Jeffrey M.
George, Janice M.
504 Fairway Ave.
Turners Falls, MA 01376
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/30/14

Gosciminski, Lynne T.
13 Millbrook Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/26/14

Gouge, Mary Elissa
72 Mechanic St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 06/27/14

Harmon, Christine J.
a/k/a Harmon, Chrissy Jane
c/o Ostrander Law Office
PO Box 1237
Northampton, MA 01061
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/26/14

Hodgins, Mary B.
40 Ogden St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/28/14

Huffer, James M.
300 West Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/20/14

Ibas, Faruk
65 Bluebird Circle
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/19/14

Kindberg, Deborah A.
97 Union Road
Wales, MA 01081
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/20/14

Kirk, Robert T.
Kirk, Mary Mellinger
a/k/a Mellinger, Mary M.
53 Harvey Johnson Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/20/14

LaLiberte, Christopher J.
LaLiberte, Paige
79 Pine Ridge Road
Montgomery, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/19/14

LaMountain, Mary Ann
34 Meadow St., Apt. 10
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/20/14

Lassalle, Darcie
a/k/a Rickson, Darcie B.
60 Lakeview Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/19/14

Lindsey, Keith A.
P.O Box 275
Gilbertville, MA 01031
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/24/14

Madison, Pamela R.
a/k/a Williams, Pamela Rose
96 Bradford Dr.
Feeding Hills, MA 01030
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/20/14

Manzi, Paul
Manzi, Melissa M.
199 Sawmill Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/18/14

McSweeney, Angela
531 Exchange St.
Athol, MA 01331
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/27/14

Moreno, Luis A.
Moreno, Olga V.
P.O. Box 1361
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/18/14

Morris, Debra A.
a/k/a Sheridan, Debra A.
PO Box 1135
Stockbridge, MA 01262
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/27/14

Morris, Ralph G.
PO Box 1135
Stockbridge, MA 01262
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/27/14

Murillo, Ricardo M.
16 Monmouth St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/26/14

Muzima, Jeannette
71 State St. #311
Northampton, MA 01060
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/26/14

Nunnally, Paul J.
93 Wolcott St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 06/19/14

Packard, Michael
16 High St.
Adams, MA 01220
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/30/14

Piatt-Rios, Euripides P.
138 Princeton Ave.
Feeding Hills, MA 01030
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 06/27/14

Rodriguez-Huaman, Leslie A.
811 Sheridan St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/18/14

Rogers, Keith E.
Rogers, Diane L.
46 Breakneck Road
Sturbridge, MA 01566
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/16/14

Rosario, Emmanuel
64 Prospect St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/18/14

S&S Plumbing & Heating
Sangiovanni, Dante P.
51 Lathers Ave.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/16/14

Sadler, Laura Ann
27 Brookside Road
Orange, MA 01364
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/25/14

Saganich, Daniel P.
186 West Main St., Apt. D
Orange, MA 01364
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/26/14

Samuelson, Francis J.
1312 Morgan Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/25/14

Sarinh, Son
392 Page Blvd.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/27/14

Siciliano, Maria
a/k/a Sepulveda, Maria
43 Brainard Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/18/14

Sierra, Roberto
Sierra, Melinda
a/k/a Hernandez, Melinda
40 East Hooker St
Springfield, MA 01107
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/17/14

Smith, Charles F.
419 Montcalm St., Apt.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/18/14

Tackeff, Steven
8 Birch St.
Sturbridge, MA 01566
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/30/14

Thompson, Michael P.
560 Springfield St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/27/14

Vaselacopoulos, Helen E.
161 Bowles Park Ext.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/19/14

Watts, Hillary M.
518 Gale Ave.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/16/14

Whitley, Shelley S.
77 Cheyenne Road
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/27/14

People on the Move

By
Departments People on the Move

Royal LLP, a management-side only labor and employment law firm, announced the following:

Channez Rogers, Esq.

Channez Rogers, Esq.

• Channez Rogers, Esq. has joined the firm as an Associate Attorney. Prior to joining Royal LLP, Rogers worked in the general counsel’s Office at Western New England University, handling employment matters. In her role at Royal, Rogers represents companies in myriad employment-law cases in state and federal court and before administrative agencies. She also counsels companies on the multitude of state and federal employment laws impacting them, including employment discrimination and harassment, wage and hour, disability and leave, workplace safety, OSHA, affirmative action, and contract negotiations. Her other preventive work includes drafting employee manuals; preparing non-disclosure, non-solicitation, and non-compete agreements; and conducting management training. Rogers is a summa cum laude graduate of Western New England University and a cum laude graduate of Western New England University School of Law.
Crystal Boateng

Crystal Boateng

• Crystal Boateng has joined the firm as a Law Clerk. Boateng is a cum laude graduate of Mount Holyoke College with a bachelor’s degree in French and political science. She is in her final year of studies in a four-year program for obtaining her juris doctor at the University of Connecticut School of Law and her MBA at the University of Connecticut School of Business.






•••••
Drew McNary

Drew McNary

Meredith-Springfield Associates Inc., a plastics manufacturer specializing in extrusion blow molding and injection stretch blow molding, announced the addition of Drew McNary as Director of Engineering at the Ludlow-based manufacturing facility. McNary has more than 30 years of broad-based industry experience driving the development of highly successful, market-leading consumer products, packaging, and medical devices. In his new role at Meredith-Springfield, he will oversee all technical functions and staff.
•••••
The Berkshire Museum announced the addition of Britney Schline to the staff as Collections Manager. Berkshire Museum, a Smithsonian affiliate, holds encyclopedic collections comprised of more than 30,000 objects, including art, artifacts, decorative arts, ethnography, natural specimens, and living collections. In her new role, Schline will oversee the museum’s permanent collections as well as work closely with the exhibition team led by Maria Mingalone, the museum’s director of interpretation. “Britney’s approach to collections management is in line with our institutional goals to bring collections alive for our visitors. She has a fresh perspective on how collections can leverage the 21st-century museum as a place where people have meaningful experiences with one another around objects,” said Mingalone. “Schline also brings a passion to finding innovative means to connect our visitors to our collections and to one another, whether it is in the galleries, through special programming, on our website, or through social media.” Schline is a recent graduate of the Cooperstown Graduate Program and holds a master’s degree in museum studies. Before completing her graduate degree, she held the position of decorative arts collections assistant at the Berkshire Museum, assisting the museum in cataloguing its ceramic and Asian art collection under an IMLS grant. Most recently, she served in the collections department at the Fenimore Art Museum and the New York State Historical Assoc. Last summer, Schline was an Edward I. Koch fellow at the Historic House Trust of New York City, where she coordinated the Roof Raisers Curatorial Brigade volunteer program. She has also previously interned at Wadsworth Atheneum and the Schoharie County Historical Society.
•••••
David Pickart

David Pickart

David Pickart, Senior Environmental Scientist at Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, has relocated to the firm’s Springfield office. In his role, he will continue to manage projects that address the identification and assessment of natural resources. Pickart will oversee the preparation and processing of permit applications to local, state, and federal environmental regulatory agencies. Additional responsibilities include growing and leading a team of environmental scientists to service existing and new clients located in Western Mass. and Central Conn. Pickart has 28 years of experience working on complex projects throughout the Northeast.
•••••
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) announced that Gov. Deval Patrick recently appointed Lisa Chamberlain, Managing Partner of the Chamberlain Group, based in Great Barrington, as the newest member of the MCLA board of trustees. She succeeds outgoing trustee Steve Crowe, who recently completed his term of service. Founded in 1999, the Chamberlain Group is a Massachusetts-based studio that designs and builds mimetic organs for surgical and interventional training. It is a collective of sculptors, designers, fabricators, engineers, and model makers who work collaboratively with medical-device manufacturers, leading surgeons, and teaching hospitals worldwide. A graduate of Princeton University with graduate work at Yale, Chamberlain later joined the Academy Award-winning, New York City-based design and effects studio R/GA, where she met and collaborated with Eric Chamberlain. Together, they were instrumental in building R/GA’s reputation for work in feature films, graphic design, computer graphics, and digital video. Their combined film credits include effects, opening titles, and feature campaigns for Superman, The World According to Garp, Zelig, Predator, Predator II, The Big Chill, Tootsie, Gandhi, Body Double, Ghostbusters, Judge Dredd, Eraser, and The Matrix.
•••••
New England Environmental Inc. (NEE) announced that Michèle Grenier has joined its Amherst office as a Senior Scientist. Grenier is a professional wetland scientist, certified wetland scientist, and associate wildlife biologist, and is also OSHA 40-hour HAZWOPER certified. She has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology from Cornell University. Grenier has more than 20 years of experience in environmental consulting. Her experience includes state and federal wetland and riverfront delineation, wildlife-habitat evaluations, functions and values assessment, vernal-pool identification, and municipal, state, and federal permitting. She currently serves on the Conservation Commission in the town of Dracut. With offices in Amherst and Middlefield, Conn., NEE is a full-service environmental-consulting firm.
•••••
Karen Curran, Financial Consultant at Thomson Financial Management, has received her CFP (certified financial planner) designation. The CFP mark distinguishes those individuals who have met the rigorous experience and ethical requirements of the CFP board, successfully completed financial-planning coursework, and passed the extensive CFP certification examination. Curran has worked at Thomson Financial since 2008 and is a registered representative, with securities and financial planning offered through LPL Financial, a registered investment advisor, member FINRA/SIPC.
•••••
William Crawford IV, CEO of United Bank and United Financial Bancorp Inc., announced that David Reynolds Jr. recently joined United Northeast Financial Advisors, a division of United Bank, as Assistant Vice President. United Northeast Financial Advisors, located at United Bank and Rockville Bank, provides customized investment solutions to customers. As United’s newest financial advisor, Reynolds will be responsible for covering the bank’s branches in Suffield, Agawam, Feeding Hills, and Windsor Locks. He is based at Rockville Bank’s Suffield branch located at 275 Mountain Road. Reynolds comes to United Bank with more than 20 years of experience in investment and securities-related organizations, including expertise in investment-product and brokerage-industry knowledge and defined contribution, pension, and investment-product sales experience. Most recently, he was regional sales director for American United Life Insurance Co. in Glastonbury from 2007 to 2014, where he was responsible for half of the company’s New England territory, earning recognition for top-10 sales performance. From 2000 to 2007, Reynolds was regional vice president for Wachovia Bank/Evergreen Investments in Hartford, and was vice president and principal of USI Consulting Group in Glastonbury, an employee-benefit consulting firm, for 11 years. His extensive career in financial services also includes his role as vice president of Finance and treasurer for North American Holding Corp., a diversified financial-services firm.
•••••
Kandace Kukas

Kandace Kukas

Kandace Kukas has joined Western New England University School of Law as the Assistant Dean and Director of Bar Admissions Programs. Kukas will design, administer, and oversee the law school’s bar-examination preparation efforts and activities, including teaching classes, counseling bar applicants, and working with students on an individual and group basis. The position was created to assist Western New England School of Law students with the increasingly complex process of applying to and preparing for the bar examination. Working closely with faculty, staff, and commercial bar-preparation companies, Kukas will be responsible for implementing a comprehensive bar-passage program commencing in a student’s first year of law school and continuing throughout the law-school program.
Kukas has worked in test preparation for the Kaplan and Pre-Multistate Bar Review organizations for 18 years, specifically focusing on bar review for nearly 10 years. She has created curricula for bar-preparation courses, taught bar-review programs at several law schools, and tutored and lectured in commercial bar classes. She practiced law for five years before moving into academic-support roles. Kukas received her juris doctor with honors from Suffolk University School of Law, and a bachelor’s degree in social work, also with honors, from Salem State University.
•••••
Janet Casey

Janet Casey

At its annual meeting in June, the Professional Women’s Chamber (PWC), an affiliate of the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield, elected Janet Casey President of its board of directors, serving a two-year term. Casey is the Principal at Marketing Doctor in West Springfield, a marketing and advertising agency. Before establishing Marketing Doctor, she was a senior sales account executive for LIN Media and advertising account executive for Guy Gannett Broadcasting. She is a Massachusetts delegate to Vision 2020, a national coalition united in the commitment to achieve women’s economic and social equality, and is a corporate committee member for the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts. A graduate of the UMass Isenberg School of Management, Casey has served on the PWC board since 2007, most recently as its vice president.

Court Dockets

By
Court Dockets Departments

The following is a compilation of recent lawsuits involving area businesses and organizations. These are strictly allegations that have yet to be proven in a court of law. Readers are advised to contact the parties listed, or the court, for more information concerning the individual claims.

CHICOPEE DISTRICT COURT
Diana Baker v. Davol, LLC and the Creative Pines Motel
Allegation: Negligence in property maintenance causing fall: $3,269.56
Filed: 5/29/14

FRANKLIN SUPERIOR COURT
Amanda Silva v. the Snows, LLC d/b/a Snowzees, and Agnes C. Ting and James C. Ting
Allegation: Negligence in property maintenance and breach of duty of reasonable care regarding the construction of a handicap ramp with a defective gap at the bottom of the ramp causing trip and fall: $23,334.90
Filed: 5/1/14

Susan Lyons Watkins and Lee Mark Watkins v. the Town of Shutesbury
Allegation: Negligent storage of road salt causing contamination of residential well: $100,000+
Filed: 4/24/14

U.S. Electric Services Inc. d/b/a Hampden Zimmerman Electric Supply Co. v. D.A. Sullivan and Sons, et al
Allegation: Non-payment of goods, materials, and equipment: $52,142.51
Filed: 4/23/14

GREENFIELD DISTRICT COURT
GEM Mechanical Services v. Advantage Construction Inc., Two Fathers, LLC, and JimBob Realty, LLC
Allegation: Plaintiff is seeking to enforce a mechanics lien claim arising from the provision of materials, equipment, and services for a construction project: $15,662.74
Filed: 6/17/14

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT
Anthony Trevelli v. Cyalume Technologies Inc., Zivi Nedivi, and Michael E. Bielonko
Allegation: Failure to pay commissions: $29,000
Filed: 6/12/14

Keating-Wilbert Vault Inc. v. Ryder Funeral Home
Allegation: Non-payment of services rendered: $45,302.95
Filed: 6/11/14

People’s United Bank v. Roofer’s Edge Inc. and Jeffrey S. Leader
Allegation: Failure to make payments on a promissory note: $13,235.05
Filed: 6/19/14

Timothy Scott and Frederick L. Scott v. David White, ITP VOIP Inc.
Allegation: Fraudulent use of credit card: $1 million
Filed: 6/12/14

HOLYOKE DISTRICT COURT
Granite State Insurance Co. v. Max Salvage Maintenance Inc.
Allegation: Breach of contract and failure to pay: $13,316.05
Field: 5/27/14

Janet LaFond v. Manomednet, LLC
Allegation: Negligent maintenance of property causing fall: $6,440
Filed: 5/27/14

PALMER DISTRICT COURT
Commerce Insurance a/s/o Judy Joaquin and Melinda Alves v. Fed Ex Ground Package System Inc. and Kenneth Allen Jr.
Allegation: Negligence in the operation of a FedEx truck causing a rear-end collision: $10,608.73
Filed: 5/27/14

Javier Rivera and Igdalia Rivera v. the Commerce Insurance Co.
Allegation: Damages for improper denial of coverage: $5,670.44
Filed: 6/3/14

SPRINGFIELD DISTRICT COURT
J. Roger St. Amand d/b/a Pro Pack Co. v. the Colad Group, LLC
Allegation: Failure to pay sales commission: $2,273.00
Filed: 6/11/14

Martin Topor Oil Inc. d/b/a Central Oil v. W & I Construction Inc.
Allegation: Non-payment of distribution and oil services rendered: $14,644.03
Filed: 6/12/14

James Ayres Joins Massachusetts Nonprofit Network Board of Directors

By
Daily News

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Nonprofit Network (MNN), the statewide organization that unites and strengthens the nonprofit sector through advocacy, public awareness, and capacity building, announced that it has appointed James Ayres, CEO and executive director of United Way of Hampshire County, to its board of directors.

“We are honored to welcome Jim Ayers, whose passion and considerable experience at the community and state level will help strengthen our state’s vast nonprofit sector,” said Rick Jakious, CEO of the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network. “MNN’s board of directors reflects the rich geographical and organizational diversity of the state’s nonprofit sector and is the voice of a strong, united nonprofit sector in Massachusetts.”

Said Ayers, “the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network is an invaluable organization for promoting public policy, support, and public understanding of the not-for-profit sector. A vibrant and well-equipped nonprofit sector, in turn, profoundly impacts quality of life thoughout the Commonwealth. I’m excited to join the MNN board and to work with other statewide leaders to shape the direction of the organization.”

Prior to his role at United Way of Hampshire County, Ayers served for 12 years as executive director of the Northampton-based Center for New Americans, an education and resource center for immigrants, refugees, and other limited-English speakers in Western Mass. In these roles, he has worked extensively with local and state governments, community coalitions, workforce boards, and NGOs to develop policy and programming. Ayres holds master’s degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst.

Michael Roy Named Governor of Rotary International District 7890

By
Daily News

EASTHAMPTON — Michael Roy, vice president and compliance officer at Easthampton Savings Bank, has been named governor of Rotary International District 7890. His term began July 1 and ends June 30, 2015. Roy is responsible for providing leadership and oversight for the 2,300 members in the 60 clubs in Western Mass. and Northern Conn. that encompass District 7890. He also seeks to raise the visibility of Rotary International and advance the organization’s main goal of eradicating polio globally.

Roy, who is also an attorney, first joined Rotary International in Florida in 1989 and rejoined in 2005 after moving to Massachusetts. He served as president of the Northampton Rotary Club from 2009 to 2010 and also served as chair of the International Committee during that time. In 2010, Roy led a district group study exchange to Japan.

“I got involved with Rotary to make a difference,” said Roy. “By participating in service projects and fund-raisers, you get a first-hand look at the impact that you’re having on peoples’ lives locally and internationally. Serving as district governor is the next natural step in moving the organization forward.”

Established in 1905, Rotary International is a global service organization that brings together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian services locally and worldwide. As district governor, Roy seeks to ensure that clubs in the district, and their members, remain active and relevant in the community.

“It’s important that our clubs continually assess the needs in their communities, because those needs may be different from four years ago or 75 years ago,” he said. “Are clubs providing members with a mix of opportunities to give back locally and participate in international projects? We want to be mindful of our backyard while staying true to our roots by helping out with projects around the world.” Rotarians take on projects that range from providing coats for needy children in their own communities to sending members to Nigeria to help immunize children against polio.

However, he added, “it isn’t only about service. It’s about fellowship. We want to be an exciting, relevant, and welcoming place for anyone looking to effect positive change, whether he or she is an established business leader or someone new to the area.”

Roy has a bachelor’s degree from Palm Beach Atlantic College and a juris doctor degree from Suffolk University Law School. He was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in December 1999. Roy also serves on various compliance and real-estate-related boards and committees in Massachusetts.

Kandace Kukas Joins Western New England University School of Law

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Kandace Kukas has joined Western New England University School of Law as the assistant dean and director of Bar Admissions Programs. Kukas will design, administer, and oversee the law school’s bar examination preparation efforts and activities, including teaching classes, counseling bar applicants, and working with students on an individual and group basis.

“We’re thrilled to have Kandace Kukas join the School of Law community,” said Dean Eric Gouvin. “With her impressive experience in student bar-preparation strategies, I’m confident Kandace will make a significant contribution to the success of our graduates.”


The director of Bar Admissions Programs position was created to assist Western New England School of Law students with the increasingly complex process of applying to and preparing for the bar examination. Working closely with faculty, staff, and commercial bar-preparation companies, Kukas will be responsible for implementing a comprehensive bar-passage program commencing in a student’s first year of law school and continuing throughout the law-school program.


Kukas has worked in test preparation for the Kaplan and PMBR (Pre-Multistate Bar Review) organizations for 18 years, specifically focusing on bar review for nearly 10 years. She has created curricula for bar-preparation courses, taught bar-review programs at several law schools, and tutored and lectured in commercial bar classes. She practiced law for five years before moving into academic-support roles. Kukas received her J.D. with honors from Suffolk University School of Law, and a bachelor’s degree in social work, also with honors, from Salem State University.

Webinar to Address Mood Disorders, Asperger’s, ADHD in the Office

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C., a labor and employment-law firm serving the Greater Springfield area, announced that partner Susan Fentin will host a webinar on July 22 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. titled “Bipolar and Other Mood Disorders, Asperger’s, and ADHD: Keys to Legally Managing Productivity.”

Human-resource professionals and supervisors alike will benefit from the webinar, which highlights how to spot and address performance triumphs and the challenges workers with these conditions may experience — without violating increasingly broad laws.

“One emerging concern surrounds the fact that some of those individuals entering the workforce right now may have grown accustomed to being treated differently under special-education requirements in school,” said Fentin. “Many human-resource professionals question whether they need to provide similar accommodations in the workplace under the Americans with Disabilities Act.”

The live webinar will address managing employees with increasingly common mental conditions and best practices for day-to-day performance and example scenarios that arise from mood, concentration, and social-skill challenges. Under the ADA, employers have a duty to grant reasonable accommodation to an employee with a covered disability, and given the broad expansion through the ADA Amendments Act, more mental conditions now qualify employees for protection than ever before. Attendees will learn:

• Symptoms employees with mood disorders and other mental conditions may exhibit, including bipolar disorder, depression, ADHD, and Asperger’s syndrome;

• When an employee with one or more conditions may be entitled to an ADA accommodation;

• What accommodations might be required for employees who suffer from one of these conditions;

• What a supervisor should do if an employee can’t seem to stay organized or fails to meet deadlines;

• How to draft an agreement laying out clear expectations, any applicable accommodations, and the consequences of not meeting specific performance standards;

• How to master day-to-day challenges from an employee’s difficulty in handling stress or keeping their emotions in check;

• Attendance issues that come to light when a mood disorder or other mental condition is present and how to respond;

• Strategies for managing co-worker interactions and tips on how to recognize harassment and eradicate bullying that may be occurring against affected employees; and

• What supervisors and managers can do to help manage compliance risks under the ADA, FMLA, and HIPAA.
To register for the webinar, visit store.hrhero.com/events/audio-conferences-webinars/adhd-bipolar-employees-072214.

Channez Rogers, Crystal Boateng Join Royal LLP

By
Daily News

NORTHAMPTON — Royal LLP, a management-side-only labor and employment-law firm, announced some recent additions to the staff. Channez Rogers, Esq. has joined the firm as an associate attorney, and Crystal Boateng has joined the firm as a law clerk.

Prior to joining Royal LLP, Rogers worked in the General Counsel’s Office at Western New England University, handling employment matters. In her role at Royal, she represents companies in myriad employment-law cases in state and federal court and before administrative agencies. She also counsels companies on the multitude of state and federal employment laws impacting them, including employment discrimination and harassment, wage and hour, disability and leave, workplace safety, OSHA, affirmative action, and contract negotiations. Her other preventive work includes drafting employee manuals; preparing non-disclosure, non-solicitation, and non-compete agreements; and conducting management training. Rogers is a summa cum laude graduate of Western New England University and a cum laude graduate of Western New England University School of Law.

Boateng is a cum laude graduate of Mount Holyoke College with a bachelor’s degree in French and political science. She is in her final year of studies in a four-year program for obtaining her juris doctor at the University of Connecticut School of Law and her MBA at the University of Connecticut School of Business.