Newly-nominated Chief of the SJC Justice Kimberly Budd has expanded Massachusetts Jurisdiction beyond the former constraints of where the contract of employment was made and where the injury occurred to now include the “location of the employment relationship.” This third test is based upon a broadening rather than a restrictive interpretation of M.G.L. c. 152, § 26. “Jurisdiction to adjudicate workers' compensation claims lies in Massachusetts where there are sufficient significant contacts between the Commonwealth and the employment such that the employment can be said to be located in the Commonwealth.”(“It is possible for Jurisdiction to lie in more than one state.”). The “relevant considerations may include whether the employee is a resident of the Commonwealth; the employer's contacts with and presence in the Commonwealth; whether the employee was recruited or hired in the Commonwealth; whether and under what conditions the employee is able, or expected, to return to the Commonwealth between assignments; and whether the employer procured workers ‘compensation insurance in Massachusetts.”
In concluding that “there were sufficient significant contacts between Massachusetts and the claimant's employment such that the employment relationship was located in Massachusetts,” the Court recognized and relied upon the uncontroverted evidence that the employee was a Massachusetts resident possessing a Massachusetts commercial driver’s license, responded to an employment advertisement place in a Massachusetts newspaper, drove the employer’s tractor-trailer thousands of miles in Massachusetts, more than he drove in any other state except Pennsylvania, spent nearly half his days in Massachusetts delivering tons of goods to the employer’s Massachusetts customers and he returned to Massachusetts for medical care under the employer’s workers’ compensation insurance. The SJC reversed and vacated the DIA Reviewing Board decision by establishing this third new test for jurisdiction. “Considering the foregoing, there were sufficient significant contacts between Massachusetts and the claimant’s employment such that the employment relationship was located in Massachusetts. We therefore conclude that the Commonwealth has jurisdiction over the claimant's claim.”
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TKCK WELCOMES
ATTORNEY DANIEL BRUNK
We are pleased to announce that Daniel B. Brunk, Esq. has joined TKCK. Dan’s practice at TKCK includes workers’ compensation under Massachusetts and Federal acts, including the Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act, and general business law. Dan brings diverse experience to the firm, having practiced civil litigation in New York, including premises liability, insurance coverage, construction litigation and labor law, commercial litigation, and mass tort litigation. Immediately prior to joining the firm, Dan worked in legal and compliance management roles as an expatriate in the United Kingdom, focusing on risk management, financial services risk consulting, and regulatory compliance at Fortune 500 companies within the Financial Services industry.
Dan earned a Bachelor of Music Education from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University and his Juris Doctor from New England School of Law in 2007. Dan is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts, New York, District of Columbia, the Southern and Eastern Federal District Courts of New York, and the United States Supreme Court. Dan is also admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales. In addition to his legal practice, Dan is an avid musician and afficionado of all things Italian.
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CONGRATULATIONS!
The following attorneys have been named
a "Super Lawyer" or "Rising Stars"
according to Super Lawyers Magazine.
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Brian Prindle
Super Lawyer
2009 to 2020
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Michael Marshall
Rising Star
2015 to 2020
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Nicholas Chrissis
Rising Star
2016 to 2020
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Alissa Grady
Rising Star
2018 to 2020
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Robert Martin
Rising Star
2018 to 2020
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TKCK is a workers' compensation and civil litigation firm handling cases in the all six New England States (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont) and at the Federal level for Longshore Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act and Defense Base Act claims.
We are approved panel counsel for most major insurers, including AIG, ACE/Chubb, Travelers, Liberty Mutual, Zurich, PMA, Utica, XL Specialty, Starr, The Hartford, CNA, Berkley, Acadia and others. We have longstanding partnerships with most major Third Party Administrators and Self-Insured Groups and we are designated counsel for many of the largest employers in New England.
Experience Matters. Results Count.
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CONTACT US:
Tentindo, Kendall, Canniff & Keefe LLP
510 Rutherford Avenue
Boston, MA 02129
(617) 242-9600 (phone)
(617) 242-0800 (fax)
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