Court Opinion

ID: 9716502
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 06:42:15.17589+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:46.137237
License: Public Domain

Lynch, J.
(dissenting in part). I do not agree that the commission correctly added interest from the commencement of the proceeding to the award of damages for loss of pay. In upholding the commission’s award the court relies on College-Town, Division of Interco, Inc. v. Massachusetts Comm’n *585Against Discrimination, 400 Mass. 156 (1987), in which I dissented, although I did not reach the interest issue. To the extent that College-Town supports the award of interest, I depart from that portion of the opinion as well. Since interest is compensation for the use of money wrongfully withheld, logic compels the conclusion that a claimant is not entitled to interest on a sum until payment of that sum is overdue. It follows, therefore, that an award of damages for lost wages should not properly include interest until such time as the wages would have been earned but for the wrongful conduct of the defendant. No matter how broad the remedial power of the commission, it cannot convert interest into something it is not or refashion the concept to its own liking. The commission has adequate powers to remedy wrongful discrimination without corrupting the meaning of such a universally understood term.