Amendment ID: S2546-14-R1

Redraft Amendment 14

Private Attorney General Action

Messrs. Collins, Timilty and Feeney move that the proposed new draft be amended by adding the following new section:

"Section XX. Any person claiming to be aggrieved by a violation of sections 27, 148, 148B, 152A, or 150 of chapter 149 or section 1B of chapter 151 shall be entitled to bring an action on behalf of the Commonwealth against an employer that violates those sections. A civil action filed under this section shall be deemed a private attorney general action.  The representative nature of such an action on behalf of the Commonwealth is not waivable.  There is no need for the employee to satisfy class certification requirements in order to bring such an action so long as there are common questions of law or fact among a group of two or more employees. The person filing such an action shall provide a copy of the complaint within 10 days of the filing to the attorney general. If the plaintiff prevails, the employee or employees on whose behalf the plaintiff instituted the civil action shall be awarded treble damages, as liquidated damages, for any lost wages and other benefits and shall also be awarded the costs of the litigation and reasonable attorneys' fees, but ten percent of the award shall be for the Commonwealth. If the court finds, within 120 days from the date the action was originally filed, that such action was filed frivolously, the court may award reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred by the defendant."