Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey News

Ex-Homeless Shelter Head in Massachusetts Charged with Stealing $1.5M

The former head of a Massachusetts homeless shelter stole about $1.5 million in part by secretly renting properties he owned to the shelter at above-market rates, prosecutors said. Manuel Duran, 69, then falsely certified compliance with state regulations designed to …

Platforms’ Gig Worker Measure Moves Step Closer to Ballot in Massachusetts

Massachusetts’ attorney general on Wednesday gave backers of a proposed ballot measure, which would define drivers for app-based companies like Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. as independent contractors rather than employees, the green light to collect the signatures needed …

Massachusetts Ballot Question Would Stop Short of Declaring Gig Workers Employees

Some gig workers and a coalition of app-based businesses including Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Instacart are pushing a proposed ballot question in Massachusetts they say would grant new benefits for workers while stopping short of declaring them employees. Supporters said …

Massachusetts Sues Grubhub Over Fees Charged During Pandemic

Online food delivery platform Grubhub charged some Massachusetts restaurants illegally high fees during the coronavirus pandemic, the state attorney general’s office alleged in a lawsuit filed Thursday. The suit, filed in Suffolk Superior Court, seeks refunds for those restaurants as …

CEO of Massachusetts Insurance Agency Charged in Connection with Fraud Scheme

The president and CEO of a Taunton, Massachusetts, insurance agency has been indicted in connection with an alleged embezzlement scheme that left client companies uninsured, Attorney General Maura Healey announced. David Pietro, of Sandwich, Massachusetts, and his company, DGP Miles …

Massachusetts Sues Marketing Firm for Role in Opioid Crisis

Massachusetts’ top prosecutor on Thursday sued a global marketing company that she alleges played a role in fueling the opioid epidemic. State Attorney General Maura Healey said Publicis Health designed and deployed unfair and deceptive marketing schemes to help Purdue …

Judge Lets Massachusetts Claims Over Uber, Lyft Driver Classification Proceed

A Massachusetts judge on Thursday denied a bid to dismiss a lawsuit by the state’s attorney general challenging Uber’s and Lyft’s classification of drivers as independent contractors instead of employees entitled to sick time and other costly benefits. Suffolk County …

Disclosure Protections May Not Apply to Some Facebook App Records in Healey Probe

Facebook Inc. could be required to disclose some of its records identifying apps that allegedly misused customer data in a privacy investigation brought by state Attorney General Maura Healey. The Massachusetts Supreme Court found that some of Facebook’s app records …

Massachusetts Seeks Input on Use of Gas Explosions Settlement Money

Massachusetts is asking residents and businesses in three communities affected by a series of natural gas explosions and fires in September 2018 how to spend some of the money from a settlement with the utility found responsible for the disaster. …

Biopharmaceutical Company to Pay $600K to Settle Alleged Clean Air Act Violations

A global biopharmaceutical company has agreed to pay $600,000 and limit its emissions of harmful air pollutants to settle allegations that it violated the Massachusetts Clean Air Act and regulations at its Lexington, Massachusetts, facility. Of that amount, $200,000 will …