Labor Retaliation.

Byline: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff

Where a union filed a grievance after the Greater Lowell Regional Vocational and Technical School District declined to offer a bargaining unit member the position of head golf coach, the employer's decision was not in retaliation for engaging in concerted protected activity.

"The issue in this case is whether the Greater Lowell Regional Vocational and Technical School District (District or Employer) violated Section 10(a)(3) and, derivatively, Section 10(a)(1) of G.L.c. 150E (the Law) (1) by retaliating against Robert Jones (Jones) for engaging in concerted activity protected by Section 2 of the Law when it declined to offer him the position of golf head coach in September of 2020. For the reasons explained below, I find that the District did not violate the Law.

"I am unpersuaded by the Union's arguments that the District's decision not to hire Jones as the golf head coach in September of 2020 was based on anti-union animus.

"Additionally, I am not persuaded by the Union's argument that the District deviated from its established practice of preferring incumbent coaches/internal candidates over external candidates when it offered the position of golf coach to [Pat] Moriarity.

"Finally, the record is void of evidence that the District treated Jones disparately during the interview process.

"Based on this evidence, the...