Latest Massachusetts Headlines

All the headlines from our Massachusetts Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Tracking Web Users Does Not Violate Wiretap Law, Massachusetts High Court Rules

Oct 25 2024 // A firm’s use of software that tracks users’ activity on its website does not violate a state law against wiretapping, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled. While the state law against wiretapping...

Meta Must Face Massachusetts Social Media Addiction Lawsuit

Oct 21 2024 // Meta Platforms must face a lawsuit by Massachusetts alleging the social media company purposely deployed features on its Instagram platform to addict young users and deceived the public about the dangers it posed to the...

Massachusetts Governor Healey Names Caljouw as Insurance Commissioner

Oct 4 2024 // Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey announced the appointment of Michael T. Caljouw as state’s new insurance commissioner. Caljouw comes to DOI with 33 years of experience in insurance law and policy in the state,...

Massachusetts Man Charged With Defrauding Home Repair Insurance Provider

Oct 4 2024 // A Massachusetts man has been charged with defrauding a home repair insurance provider by billing for repair jobs that were never performed, the office of Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy reported. According to the...

AssuredPartners Acquires Halstead Agency of Massachusetts

Oct 3 2024 // Global insurance broker AssuredPartners announced it has acquired Halstead Insurance Agency, a Fitchburg, Massachusetts-based agency offering personal and commercial insurance. The Halstead team will remain under the...

Duffy Agency Acquires Neighboring Cowan Agency in Massachusetts

Sep 13 2024 // Duffy Insurance Agency, based in Lynn, Massachusetts, has acquired The Cowan Insurance Agency of Haverhill, also in Essex County. The Cowan agency, founded in 1938, is a fourth generation family business now led by...

Ban on Switchblades Violates Second Amendment: Massachusetts High Court

Aug 28 2024 // A 1957 Massachusetts law banning the possession of certain switchblades violates the federal Second Amendment right to bear arms, the highest court in Massachusetts has ruled. The state court found that switchblades...

Rare and Deadly Mosquito Virus Infection Has Massachusetts Towns on Alert

Aug 27 2024 // A rare but deadly disease spread by mosquitoes has one town in Massachusetts closing its parks and fields each evening. Four other towns are urging people to avoid going outdoors at night. They’re concerned about...

Worker Dies After Excavator Is Buried Under Rocks at Massachusetts Quarry

Aug 26 2024 // A worker was killed last Thursday morning after a portion of a rock ledge collapsed onto an excavator with the worker inside, burying it under rocks and boulders at a quarry site in Massachusetts. Firefighters and other...

Bankrupt Steward Health Care Sells Physician Network as Massachusetts Hospital Seized

Aug 19 2024 // Bankrupt hospital operator Steward Health Care received a bankruptcy judge’s approval on Friday to sell its nationwide physician network to a private equity buyer while its stalled efforts to sell Massachusetts...

PCF Acquires Asset Insurance Agency in Massachusetts

Aug 15 2024 // Utah-based PCF Insurance Services reports it has acquired the insurance business of Asset Insurance Agency, based in Peabody, Massachusetts. Asset Insurance Agency sells auto, home, commercial and life insurance in...

Massachusetts Resolves Disputes Worth $600M with Tobacco Manufacturers

Aug 14 2024 // The Massachusetts attorney general has reached a $600 million settlement with major tobacco manufacturers, resolving some of the state’s complaints over how much the tobacco companies owe it under a 1998 master...

Massachusetts Businesses With More Than 25 Employees Must Disclose Salary Range

Aug 2 2024 // Massachusetts businesses with more than 25 employees must disclose salary ranges when posting jobs, under a new bill signed into law Wednesday that puts the commonwealth in line with 10 other states that already require...

Bankrupt Steward Health to Close Two Massachusetts Hospitals

Jul 29 2024 // Bankrupt hospital owner Steward Health Care will close two locations in Massachusetts after failing to find a buyer for them, the company said Friday. Steward filed for bankruptcy in May, putting all of its 31 hospitals up...

‘Surface Waters’ on Roof Are Not ‘Flood’ Waters, Massachusetts High Court Rules

Jul 23 2024 // The highest court in Massachusetts has ruled that rainwater accumulation on roofs of buildings does not constitute “surface waters” within the meaning of “flood” in property insurance policies. The...

Massachusetts Insurance Agency Deland, Gibson Acquires Atchue Agency

Jul 17 2024 // Independent insurance agency Deland, Gibson Insurance Associates in Wellesley, Massachusetts announced it recently acquired Atchue Insurance Agency, which is located about 35 miles away in Worcester. Founded by Earl V....

Massachusetts Orders 14.6% Cut in Workers’ Compensation Rates

Jul 15 2024 // Massachusetts businesses will see an average 14.6% reduction in workers’ compensation rates–a cut that is almost twice the size of what the insurance industry’s rating bureau proposed in its filing. The...

Uber and Lyft Agree to Higher Wages, Work-Accident Insurance in Mass. Settlement

Jul 1 2024 // BOSTON (AP) — Drivers for Uber and Lyft will earn a minimum pay standard of $32.50 per hour and will be eligible for occupational accident insurance paid by the companies for up to $1 million for work-related injuries...

Massachusetts Allows Uber to Force Paralyzed Rider to Arbitrate

Jul 1 2024 // Uber can require that a passenger seriously injured in a crash involving an Uber driver go to arbitration over his $63 million damages claim without a trial, the highest court in Massachusetts recently ruled, overturning a...

Massachusetts Orders 14.6% Cut in Workers’ Compensation Rates

Jun 27 2024 // Massachusetts businesses will see an average 14.6% reduction in workers’ compensation rates—a cut that is almost twice the size of what the insurance industry’s rating bureau proposed in its filing. The lower...