A manager at the Cambridge Marriott hotel who was fired after he was accused of sexually harassing a bartender can’t sue the bartender, according to the state Appeals Court. The manager sued the bartender for defamation, claiming she slandered him to the hotel and wrongly caused him to lose his job. But the court said that a person can’t be sued for defamation for statements made in relation to a court case. In this situation, the

If you’re in the middle of a divorce and your spouse is preparing a joint income tax return, remember that even though you’re splitting up, you’re still jointly responsible if you sign the return and your spouse has done something wrong. In a recent case, a couple was still married but living separately with separate checking accounts and credit cards. The husband prepared the couple’s joint tax return and gave it to the wife to sign.

A company can be sued if it didn’t promote a woman because it was afraid she would have trouble balancing her job and raising four children. That’s the result of a ruling from the federal appeals court in Boston. The woman, who worked for an insurance company, was one of two finalists for a management job. She had an 11-year-old son and six-year-old triplets, and was taking one course a semester at a local college. She

A number of Massachusetts companies have been receiving official-looking letters recently offering to file corporate minutes with the government for a fee. These appear to be scams designed to trick business owners, according to the Secretary of State’s office. Many businesses have received letters from something called “Compliance Services” offering to file corporate minutes statements with the state and asking for payment of a $125 “annual fee.” The trick? There is no requirement to file corporate

A condo resident can file a lawsuit after he slipped on snow and ice while taking out his trash, according to the state Appeals Court. After a 16-inch snowfall, a landscaping company hired by the condo association plowed out the area. However, it plowed a large pile of snow up against the dumpster. The resident attempted to make his way through the snow in order to dispose of his garbage. He slipped and fractured his wrist,

Staples, the office-supply retailer, can be sued for firing an employee and then sending a mass e-mail to other employees saying why it fired him. That’s the word from the federal appeals court in Boston. The employee can sue Staples for “libel” … even if what it said about him was true. In most states, truth is a defense to libel. But Massachusetts is unusual. In Massachusetts, it’s illegal even to broadcast the truth about someone

A majority – some 53% – of individual landlords make mistakes on their federal income tax when it comes to reporting rental income and expenses, according to a study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. That means that out of about 8.9 million individual landlords in the country, nearly 5 million aren’t paying the correct tax. And of those 5 million, fully a quarter paid too much tax and should have had a lower tax bill,