LIABILITY OF EMPLOYERS TO EMPLOYEES FOR INJURIES NOT RESULTING IN DEATH

M.G.L. pt. Part I, tit. Title XXI, ch. c. 153

in effect

M.G.L. c. 153, § 1 Rights to compensation and of action

c. 153, § 1. Rights to compensation and of action Section 1. If personal injury is caused to an employee, who, at the time of the injury, is in the exercise of due care by reason of— First, A defect in the condition of the ways, works or machinery connected with or used in the business of the employer, which arose from, or had not been discovered or remedied in consequence of, the negligence of the employer or of a person in his service who had been intrusted by him with the duty of seeing that the ways, works or machinery were in proper condition; or Second, The negligence of a person in the service of the employer who was intrusted with and was exercising superintendence and whose sole or principal duty was that of superintendence, or, in the absence of such superintendent, of a person acting as superintendent with the authority or consent of such employer; or Third, The negligence of a person in the service of the employer who was in charge or control of a signal, switch, locomotive engine, elevated train or train upon a railroad or elevated railway; The employee, or his legal representatives, shall, subject to the eight following sections, have the same rights to compensation and of action against the employer as if he had not been an employee, nor in the service, nor engaged in the work, of the employer. A car in use by or in possession of a railroad corporation, or an elevated car in use by or in possession of an elevated railway corporation, shall be considered as a part of the ways, works or machinery of the corporation which uses or has it in possession, within the meaning of clause first, whether owned by such corporation or by some other company or person. One or more cars which are in motion, whether attached to an engine or not, shall constitute a train within the meaning of clause third, and whoever, as a part of his duty for the time being, physically controls or directs the movements of a signal, switch, locomotive engine, elevated train or train shall be deemed to be a person in charge or control of a signal, switch, locomotive engine, elevated train or train within the meaning of said clause. This section shall not apply to injuries caused to farm laborers by fellow employees.

M.G.L. c. 153, § 2 Knowledge by employee of defect or negligence

c. 153, § 2. Knowledge by employee of defect or negligence Section 2. An employee or his legal representatives shall not be entitled under section one of this chapter or under chapter two hundred and twenty-nine to any right of action for damages against his employer if such employee knew of the defect or negligence which caused the injury, and failed within a reasonable time to give, or cause to be given, information thereof to the employer, or to some person superior to himself in the service of the employer who was intrusted with general superintendence.

M.G.L. c. 153, § 3 Unremedied defect reported to be defective

c. 153, § 3. Unremedied defect reported to be defective Section 3. If a defect in the ways, works or machinery of an employer has been reported to the person whose duty it is to remedy said defect, or cause it to be remedied, or to report its existence, and such defect is not remedied within a reasonable time, and by reason of said defect an employee is injured, such employee shall not be held to have assumed the risk of such injury.

M.G.L. c. 153, § 4 Continuation in employment after knowledge of defective railway equipment

c. 153, § 4. Continuation in employment after knowledge of defective railway equipment Section 4. An employee of a railroad corporation injured by any locomotive, car or train used contrary to any provision of sections one hundred and fifty-five and one hundred and fifty-seven to one hundred and fifty-nine, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and sixty shall not be deemed to have assumed the risk of such injury, although he continues in the employment of such corporation after the unlawful use of such locomotive, car or train has been brought to his knowledge. An employee of a railroad corporation injured by any locomotive, car or train by reason of the negligence of any other employee of the corporation shall not be deemed to have assumed the risk of such injury.

M.G.L. c. 153, § 5 Limitation of award

c. 153, § 5. Limitation of award Section 5. The amount of damages awarded in an action under section one for a personal injury to an employee, in which no damages for his death are awarded, shall not exceed four thousand dollars.

M.G.L. c. 153, § 6 Notice of injury to employer

c. 153, § 6. Notice of injury to employer Section 6. No action for the recovery of damages for injury under section one of this chapter or for death under section two B or six C of chapter two hundred and twenty-nine shall be maintained unless notice of the time, place and cause of the injury is given to the employer within sixty days, and the action is commenced within two years, after the accident which causes the injury or death. Such notice shall be in writing, signed by the person injured or by a person in his behalf. If the person injured dies within the time required for giving the notice, his executor or administrator may give such notice within sixty days after his appointment; and in such case the action may be begun within one year after the appointment of such executor or administrator. If from physical or mental incapacity it is impossible for the person injured to give the notice within the time provided in this section, he may give it within ten days after such incapacity has been removed, and if he dies within said ten days his executor or administrator may give such notice within sixty days after his appointment. If the employer dies without such notice having been given and before the time for giving such notice has elapsed, the notice may be given to his executor or administrator, and the time within which the notice may be given as herein provided shall run from the appointment of the executor or administrator. A notice given under this section shall not be held invalid or insufficient solely by reason of an inaccuracy in stating the time, place or cause of the injury if it is shown that there was no intention to mislead, and that the employer was not in fact misled thereby. If the employer dies without such action having been brought and before the time for bringing the action has elapsed, the action may be begun against his executor or administrator not less than six months and not more than one year after the executor or administrator has given bond for the performance of his trust. Any form of written communication signed by the person so injured, or by some person in his behalf, or by his executor or administrator, or by some person in behalf of such executor or administrator, containing the information that the person was so injured, giving the time, place and cause of the injury or death, shall be considered a sufficient notice. Want of notice as required by this section shall not bar proceedings if it is shown that the employer, or any agent of the employer exercising superintendence, had knowledge of the injury, or if it is found as a fact that the employer was not prejudiced by such want of notice.

M.G.L. c. 153, § 7 Employees of independent contractors and subcontractors; defects causing injuries

c. 153, § 7. Employees of independent contractors and subcontractors; defects causing injuries Section 7. If an employer enters into a contract, written or verbal, with an independent contractor to do a part of such employer's work, or if such contractor enters into a contract with a sub-contractor to do all or any part of the work comprised in such contractor's work with the employer, such contract or sub-contract shall not bar the liability of the employer for injuries to the employees of such contractor or sub-contractor caused by any defect in the condition of the ways, works, machinery or plant, if they are the property of the employer or are furnished by him and if such defect arose, or had not been discovered or remedied, through the negligence of the employer or of some person intrusted by him with the duty of seeing that they were in proper condition.

M.G.L. c. 153, § 8 Amounts received from insurance funds and relief societies; mitigation of damages

c. 153, § 8. Amounts received from insurance funds and relief societies; mitigation of damages Section 8. An employer who has contributed to an insurance fund created and maintained for the mutual purpose of indemnifying an employee for personal injuries for which compensation may be recovered under section one or to any relief society formed under sections eighty-six, eighty-seven and eighty-eight of chapter one hundred and fifty-nine, or the corresponding provisions of earlier laws may prove in mitigation of the damages recoverable by an employee under said section one, such proportion of the pecuniary benefit received by such employee from any such fund or society on account of such contribution of said employer as the contribution of such employer to such fund or society bears to the whole contribution thereto.

M.G.L. c. 153, § 9 Examination of condition causing injury; court order

c. 153, § 9. Examination of condition causing injury; court order Section 9. A justice of the superior court may, upon petition setting forth in ordinary language that the servant or employee of a certain person, has been injured in the course of his employment, through some defect in the ways, works or machinery owned or used by the employer, and that it is necessary in order to protect the interests of the injured person that an examination should be made of the ways, works or machinery through whose defect the injury occurred, and after such notice to the employer as any justice of said court may direct or approve, and a hearing, grant an order directing the employer or person in control of such ways, works or machinery to permit the person named in said order to make such examination, under conditions to be set forth in the order.

Source: Massachusetts General Court (malegislature.gov)URL: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXXI/Chapter153Fetched: 10/20/2026