Patel v. 7-Eleven, Inc., No. 20-1999 (1st Cir. 2021)
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The First Circuit certified a question to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court pursuant to Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Rule 1:03, holding that the outcome of this appeal depended upon a question of Massachusetts law, upon which the Massachusetts courts have not spoken.
Plaintiffs, owners of 7-Eleven franchise operated in Massachusetts, alleged that 7-Eleven misclassified them was independent contractors rather than employees, in violation of Massachusetts law. At issue was a conflict between the Massachusetts Independent Contractor Law (ICL), Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 149, 148B, and the Federal Trade Commission's Franchise Rule making it allegedly impossible for 7-Eleven to satisfy federal law. The district court held that, due to this conflict, the ICL did not apply and therefore, its franchisees were properly classified as independent contractors. The First Circuit certified a question to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court regarding the issue and retained jurisdiction pending resolution of the certified question.
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