Teachers Appeal Superior Court Ruling In Favor Of Town In Paid Family/Medical Leave Lawsuit

Merrill Mason, one of two island school teachers who filed a lawsuit in May of 2025 against the town in Nantucket Superior Court for its failure to implement the Paid Family & Medical Leave Act, has appealed the Superior Court's denial of her lawsuit. 

In a statement released by the Massachusetts Teachers Association speaking on behalf of the Nantucket Teachers Association (NTA), it was confirmed that the NTA will appeal the court decision and seek access to the same type of paid family and medical leave benefits that Massachusetts law extends to private-sector and state employees.

“We are disappointed with the decision reached in Superior Court to deny a lawsuit brought by two members of NTA when the town failed to act on a motion passed by voters to extend the state’s PFML provisions to municipal employees,” the statement reads. “Our former president Page Martineau was one of the original plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Her fight to have the time necessary to care for herself while being treated for cancer highlighted the need for all workers to have access to paid leave while confronting the extraordinary challenges that arise when needing to care for ourselves and our family members, young and old alike. Page died (November of 2025) as this case was proceeding, and the NTA will carry forward her fight with the Merrill Mason, who joined Page as a plaintiff in the lawsuit.”

The appeal was filed by Mason on March 30th and received by the Appeals Court on April 1st.

Island voters passed Article 37 by a margin of 380-112 at the 2024 Town Meeting, which proposed adopting Chapter 175M. The law permits an eligible employee to take certain qualified leaves of absence, including leave to recover from illness. The program is funded by premiums paid by employees and private employers. While towns are not required to participate in the program, they can opt in by a vote of the governing body – in this case, a vote of Town Meeting.

Town manager Libby Gibson subsequently reached out to each of the unions on July 2^nd, 2024, regarding the implementation of Chapter 175M and stated that any changes or additions to employee benefits would require collective bargaining under Chapter 150E.

Superintendent Beth Hallett submitted a memorandum on August 22^nd of 2024, on behalf of the School Committee to the Nantucket Teachers Association president and vice president, informing them that the School Committee wanted to hold information sessions with representatives from the union's leadership regarding Chapter 175M implementation.

“On September 12, 2024, the Town reached out to all of its unions to confirm their positions on implementation of Chapter 175M,” Buckley wrote. “Multiple unions responded by declining to bargain regarding the terms of implementation of Chapter 175M.”

The teachers argued in their lawsuit that once Article 37 was adopted, the town was obligated to implement Chapter 175M, regardless of whether the teachers’ union, or any union, had agreed to its implementation or bargained for the terms of its implementation pursuant to Chapter 150E (Massachusetts public employee collective bargaining law). The town argued that bargaining under Chapter 150E was required first since it is a single employer and would need to implement Chapter 175M with all unions.

The NTA stated that it supports Mason in her appeal of the Superior Court judge’s findings.

“The ruling hinged on legal mechanics and the essential issue of whether Nantucket must respect the will of the voters and develop a way to extend a state law to currently exempt municipal employees remains unresolved,” their statement reads. “The teaching workforce in any community consists largely of family caregivers. Nantucket has the opportunity to concretely demonstrate that it respects and values our roles as both caregivers and educators by developing a way for us to access our state’s forward-looking paid family and medical leave laws.”

Superior Court Judge Elaine M. Buckley is the judge who rendered the decision to deny Mason and Martineau’s lawsuit. Buckley cited several cases as support for her verdict in the case, notably referencing Middleborough Gas & Electric Department v. Town of Middleborough in the written decision. In the Middleborough case, it was determined that providing reimbursement for eye exams and prescription eyeglasses violated the provisions of Chapter 32B because the town didn’t offer the same benefits/relief to all its union employees.

In Buckley’s memorandum, she said that even if the town was incorrect in requiring the uniform adoption of Chapter 175M terms by all unions, Martineau and Mason lack individual standing to seek individual relief.

“The plaintiffs are members of a bargaining unit represented by the Union and therefore lack individual standing to seek relief that imposes Chapter 175M adoption against all members of their bargaining unit,” Buckley says. “Therefore, the plaintiffs’ motion for judgment on the pleadings must be denied.”

Martineau had been a teacher for the public schools since 2003, and Mason has been a teacher since 2014. Martineau was diagnosed with breast cancer in July of 2024 and had to begin taking intermittent medical leave at the beginning of the 2024 school year on September 5th, 2024. Her cancer returned in 2025 and led to her passing just over six months after the lawsuit was filed.

Mason was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 and had to depend on the sick leave bank through her union, although it was not medically advisable. The suit adds that Mason also scheduled a surgical procedure during a February school vacation week to avoid using additional sick days or sick bank leave. She began her maternity leave on January 30, 2025, the same day she gave birth, and used 60 sick days for it. She returned to work on May 12, 2025.