NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557- 1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us SJC-12485 WARREN YEE vs. MASSACHUSETTS STATE POLICE. Suffolk. October 1, 2018. - January 29, 2019. Present: Gants, C.J., Lenk, Gaziano, Lowy, Budd, Cypher, & Kafker, JJ. State Police. Anti-Discrimination Law, Employment, Age, Race. Employment, Discrimination. Public Employment, Police, Transfer. Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on April 3, 2014. The case was heard by Paul D. Wilson, J., on a motion for summary judgment. The Supreme Judicial Court on its own initiative transferred the case from the Appeals Court. Jonathan J. Margolis (Beth R. Myers also present) for the plaintiff. Jesse M. Boodoo, Assistant Attorney General, for the defendant. The following submitted briefs for amici curiae: Ben Robbins & Martin J. Newhouse for New England Legal Foundation. Simone R. Liebman & Constance M. McGrane for Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. Naomi Shatz for Fair Employment Project, Inc., & others. 2 GANTS, C.J. The plaintiff, a lieutenant in the Massachusetts State police, filed suit alleging that he suffered discrimination in violation of G. L. c. 151B, § 4, when he was unjustifiably denied a transfer to a different troop station on the basis of his age, race, or national origin.1 A Superior Court judge granted the motion of the State police for summary judgment, concluding that the plaintiff had not met his burden of showing that the denial of his request for a lateral transfer was an "adverse employment action," as required to prove an 1 General Laws c. 151B, § 4 (1), provides that it is an unlawful practice for an employer to "refuse to hire or employ or to bar or to discharge from employment [an] individual or to discriminate against such individual," on the basis of a protected status such as race or national origin, "in compensation or in terms, conditions or privileges of employment, unless based on a bona fide occupational qualification." The Commonwealth and its political subdivisions, including the State police, are covered by c. 151B. Bain v. Springfield, 424 Mass. 758, 763 (1997). The provision of c. 151B governing age discrimination distinguishes between private sector employers and the government as an employer. The section specifically covering the Commonwealth and its subdivisions is phrased somewhat differently from the section covering private employers. Compare G. L. c. 151B, § 4 (1C), with G. L. c. 151B, § 4 (1B). Section 4 (1C) provides that it is unlawful "[f]or the commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions, by itself or its agent, because of the age of any individual, to refuse to hire or employ or to bar or discharge from employment such individual in compensation or in terms, conditions or privileges of employment unless pursuant to any ...
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