Terence Meehan vs. Medical Information Technology, Inc.1, 488 Mass. 730

Summary

HOLDINGS: [1]-Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 149, § 52C did not address termination or retaliation for exercise of the right itself, and given the limited nature of the remedy, the absence of any discussion of termination, and the lack of a private enforcement mechanism, the Legislature did not appear to have considered the possibility of an employer simply terminating an employee for exercising the right of rebuttal; [2]-Recognizing a common-law wrongful discharge action for the termination of an at-will employee for exercising the statutory right of rebuttal would complement the remedial scheme; [3]-The exercise and expression of the right of rebuttal should not be grounds for termination when it was directed at explaining the employee's position regarding the disagreement with information contained in the personnel record.