Massachusetts Workplace Harassment Laws: Chapter 151B (2026)

Workplace sexual harassment is unlawful in Massachusetts under General Laws chapter 151B, which makes it an unlawful practice "For an employer, personally or through its agents, to sexually harass any employee" (G.L. c. 151B, § 4(16A)). Harassment based on other protected traits falls under the chapter's general ban on discrimination "in terms, conditions or privileges of employment" (§ 4(1)), and the chapter covers employers with six or more employees (§ 1(5)).

Chapter 151B writes its own definition of sexual harassment into the statute, including conduct that unreasonably interferes with work "by creating an intimidating, hostile, humiliating or sexually offensive work environment" (§ 1(18)). The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) enforces the chapter. For other states, see workplace harassment laws by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-20. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Massachusetts state law on workplace harassment by employers, supervisors and coworkers under General Laws chapter 151B (chiefly §§ 1, 3A, 4, 5 and 9), with the domestic-worker rule in G.L. c. 149, § 191 and harassment prevention orders under G.L. c. 258E. It does not cover wrongful firing or the full complaint and lawsuit procedure (see Massachusetts wrongful termination), damages estimates, criminal harassment or stalking, harassment outside employment, local ordinances, or federal-employee procedure.

Massachusetts harassment rules at a glance

What Massachusetts law prohibits

Chapter 151B names sexual harassment as its own unlawful practice. Section 4(16A) makes it unlawful "For an employer, personally or through its agents, to sexually harass any employee."

The statutory definition of sexual harassment

Section 1(18) of the chapter defines the term:

"The term 'sexual harassment' shall mean sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when (a) submission to or rejection of such advances, requests or conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of employment or as a basis for employment decisions; (b) such advances, requests or conduct have the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance by creating an intimidating, hostile, humiliating or sexually offensive work environment. Discrimination on the basis of sex shall include, but not be limited to, sexual harassment." (G.L. c. 151B, § 1(18))

Clause (a) describes what is often called quid pro quo harassment; clause (b) describes a hostile work environment. The statute's own words for the second kind are "unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance"; the chapter does not use the phrase "severe or pervasive."

Harassment on other protected traits

Chapter 151B has no separate clause for racial, religious or other non-sexual harassment. Those claims rest on § 4(1), which makes it unlawful for an employer, because of a protected trait, "to discriminate against such individual in compensation or in terms, conditions or privileges of employment, unless based upon a bona fide occupational qualification."

The MCAD reads the chapter this way: "Chapter 151B prohibits workplace harassment on the basis of actual or perceived membership in a protected class, or the association with others who are members of a protected class." The commission describes a hostile work environment as one where "conduct is objectively and subjectively offensive and interferes with an employee's work performance by creating a workplace that is intimidating, hostile, humiliating, and/or offensive based on the actual, perceived, or associational membership of a protected class." That description is agency guidance, not statutory text. Whether particular conduct meets the standard depends on the facts the MCAD or a court weighs.

Which Massachusetts employers are covered

Section 1(5) sets the threshold by exclusion:

"The term 'employer' does not include a club exclusively social, or a fraternal association or corporation, if such club, association or corporation is not organized for private profit, nor does it include any employer with fewer than six persons in his employ, but shall include an employer of domestic workers including those covered under section 190 of chapter 149, the commonwealth and all political subdivisions, boards, departments and commissions thereof." (G.L. c. 151B, § 1(5))

Sexual harassment has a second statute. G.L. c. 214, § 1C provides that "A person shall have the right to be free from sexual harassment, as defined in chapter one hundred and fifty-one B and one hundred and fifty-one C." The superior court enforces that right and may award the damages and other relief in the third paragraph of § 9 of Chapter 151B, and the action must be commenced within the time § 9 allows. "No claim under this section that is also actionable under chapter 151B or chapter 151C shall be brought in superior court unless a complaint was timely filed with the Massachusetts commission against discrimination."

The MCAD summarizes the policy duty in the same terms: "Massachusetts law requires employers with six or more employees to adopt a written policy against sexual harassment." Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, by contrast, reaches employers with "fifteen or more employees for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks"; the federal layer is on the workplace harassment laws hub.

Domestic workers

Domestic workers also have a harassment rule of their own in G.L. c. 149, § 191. It bars subjecting a domestic worker "to unwelcome harassment based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, color, age, religion, national origin or disability if the harassment has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with a domestic worker's work performance by creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment," and it provides that the section "shall be enforced by the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination pursuant to chapter 151B."

Who counts as an employee

The MCAD's 2024 guide to the anti-harassment law states: "Under Massachusetts law, an employee includes full-time and part-time workers, temporary workers, contract workers, minor workers, and domestic workers. Independent contractors, interns, volunteers, and those employed by immediate family members are not typically considered employees. However, there are specific definitions associated with each employee category, so just labeling someone as a non-employee (e.g., independent contractor, intern) does not necessarily mean they are not protected by M.G.L. c. 151B."

Protected traits under Chapter 151B

Section 4(1) lists race, color, religious creed, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, genetic information, "pregnancy or a condition related to said pregnancy including, but not limited to, lactation or the need to express breast milk for a nursing child," ancestry and "status as a veteran." The sexual orientation clause carries its own limit: it "shall not include persons whose sexual orientation involves minor children as the sex object."

Race has a general-laws definition. Under G.L. c. 4, § 7, clause Sixty-second, added by St. 2022, c. 117 (approved July 26, 2022), "race," as applied to a prohibition on discrimination based on race, includes "traits historically associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture, hair type, hair length and protective hairstyles." Clause Sixty-third says protective hairstyles include "braids, locks, twists, Bantu knots, hair coverings and other formations."

Other subsections of § 4 add:

• Age: § 4(1B), for private-sector employers; § 1(8) defines age as "any duration of time since an individual's birth of greater than forty years."
• Disability: § 4(16). St. 2026, c. 102, effective June 12, 2026, replaced the chapter's older "handicap" wording with "disability."
• Uniformed military service: § 4(1D).

The MCAD states that the chapter's harassment protection covers actual or perceived membership in a protected class and association with members of one.

Is the employer responsible? Can an individual be sued?

Supervisors and others given authority

In College-Town, Division of Interco, Inc. v. MCAD, 400 Mass. 156 (1987), the Supreme Judicial Court held: "in enacting G. L. c. 151B, § 4, the Legislature intended that an employer be liable for discrimination committed by those on whom it confers authority, without an additional notice requirement." That is the court's reading of the statute; § 4(16A) itself states that the employer acts "personally or through its agents."

Coworkers and non-employees

The MCAD's guidance addresses harassment by coworkers and non-employees: it states that an employer that knows or should know of such harassment is expected to investigate and take reasonable action. That is the agency's description, not statutory text.

Personal liability

Section 4(5) makes it unlawful "For any person, whether an employer or an employee or not, to aid, abet, incite, compel or coerce the doing of any of the acts forbidden under this chapter or to attempt to do so." Section 4(4A), the chapter's coercion and interference clause, also applies to any person. These clauses are written about aiding, abetting, coercing or interfering; § 4(16A) itself is written about "an employer."

Retaliation for complaining

Section 4(4) makes it unlawful "For any person, employer, labor organization or employment agency to discharge, expel or otherwise discriminate against any person because he has opposed any practices forbidden under this chapter or because he has filed a complaint, testified or assisted in any proceeding under section five." Firings after a complaint, and how they fit with the state's default employment rule, are covered on the Massachusetts at-will employment page.

Deadlines and where to file

• MCAD: "Any complaint filed pursuant to this section must be so filed within 300 days after the alleged act of discrimination" (§ 5). The MCAD's guide puts it this way: "Complaints must be filed with the MCAD within 300 days of the most recent alleged act of discrimination, with very limited exceptions."
• Court: a person claiming to be aggrieved "may, at the expiration of ninety days after the filing of a complaint with the commission, or sooner if a commissioner assents in writing, but not later than three years after the alleged unlawful practice occurred, bring a civil action for damages or injunctive relief or both in the superior or probate court" (§ 9). The court route runs through an MCAD filing first.
• Federal charge: the EEOC's Boston field office lists the MCAD as a fair employment practices agency, and states that the 180-day filing deadline "is extended to 300 days if there is a state or local anti-discrimination law that covers the location of the alleged harm and the basis for the charge."

What happens to the MCAD complaint once a lawsuit is filed, and the remedies a court can award, are on the Massachusetts wrongful termination page. The Massachusetts employment discrimination settlement calculator is an estimating tool, not a prediction of any outcome.

Written policy required; training encouraged

Section 3A makes the written policy mandatory and leaves training voluntary. Under § 3A(b), "Every employer shall: (1) adopt a policy against sexual harassment" with contents the section lists, and "(2) provide annually to all employees an individual written copy of the employer's policy against sexual harassment; provided, however, that a new employee shall be provided such a copy at the time of his employment." Because § 1(5) defines "employer" for the whole chapter, the duty reaches employers with six or more employees.

Training is different. Section 3A(e) states that employers "are encouraged to conduct an education and training program for new employees and members, within one year of commencement of employment or membership, which includes at a minimum the information set forth in this section." The MCAD likewise says that "Massachusetts law encourages employers to conduct education and training programs on sexual harassment for all employees on a regular basis." Chapter 151B does not require private employers to provide it.

NDAs, confidentiality and settlements

Chapter 151B's sections on definitions, policies, unlawful practices, MCAD complaints and court actions (§§ 1, 3A, 4, 5 and 9) contain no provision limiting nondisclosure or confidentiality terms in harassment agreements or settlements. Federal law adds limits for sexual harassment disputes: the Speak Out Act makes nondisclosure and nondisparagement clauses agreed to before a sexual harassment dispute arises judicially unenforceable where the conduct is alleged to violate federal, tribal or state law, and the Ending Forced Arbitration Act lets the person alleging sexual harassment elect court over a predispute arbitration agreement; both are explained on the workplace harassment laws hub.

Harassment prevention orders

Outside the employment statute, G.L. c. 258E lets "A person suffering from harassment" ask a court for protection, including an order that the defendant "remain away from the plaintiff's household or workplace" (§ 3(a)). Harassment for this chapter has its own definition in § 1: "3 or more acts of willful and malicious conduct aimed at a specific person committed with the intent to cause fear, intimidation, abuse or damage to property and that does in fact cause fear, intimidation, abuse or damage to property," or, in the alternative, a single act that "by force, threat or duress causes another to involuntarily engage in sexual relations" or that violates one of the criminal statutes § 1 lists. The order is a court remedy against the person who engaged in the conduct, not a claim against an employer.

Is workplace bullying illegal in Massachusetts?

Chapter 151B reaches harassment because of a protected trait. Its provisions contain no rule on general workplace bullying unconnected to one of those traits. A harassment prevention order under Chapter 258E is available to a person suffering harassment as that chapter defines it, whether or not the conduct happens at work.

Documenting harassment and workplace monitoring

The rules on recording a conversation at work, including a conversation with a harasser, are on the Massachusetts workplace recording laws page. Employer monitoring of email, devices and workspaces is covered on the Massachusetts employee monitoring laws page.

Recent and upcoming changes

• July 26, 2022: St. 2022, c. 117 was approved, adding the definition of race that includes hair texture, hair type, hair length and protective hairstyles (G.L. c. 4, § 7, clauses Sixty-second and Sixty-third).
• June 12, 2026: St. 2026, c. 102 took effect, replacing "handicap" and "handicapped person" with "disability" and "person with a disability" in Chapter 151B.
• November 4, 2026: St. 2026, c. 180, approved August 6, 2026, adds § 4(20): "It shall be unlawful discrimination for any individual consumer of services provided by a personal care attendant, as defined in section 70 of chapter 118E, to engage in conduct described in subsections 1 to 3, inclusive, subsections 4 to 5, inclusive, subsections 9A, 11A; 16, 16A and 19." Subsection 16A, the sexual harassment clause, is on that list. The new subsection is not in force until that date.

Related pages

• Workplace harassment laws by state
• Massachusetts wrongful termination
• Massachusetts at-will employment laws
• Massachusetts employee monitoring laws
• Massachusetts workplace recording laws

This article provides general legal information about Massachusetts workplace harassment law under General Laws chapter 151B as of 2026-10-20. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Massachusetts or the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

Last updated: 2026-10-20.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is workplace sexual harassment illegal in Massachusetts?

Yes. G.L. c. 151B, § 4(16A) makes it an unlawful practice for an employer, personally or through its agents, to sexually harass any employee, and § 1(18) defines sexual harassment.

How many employees does an employer need for Massachusetts harassment law to apply?

Chapter 151B's definition of employer excludes any employer with fewer than six persons in its employ, but includes employers of domestic workers and the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions (§ 1(5)). Domestic workers also have their own harassment rule in G.L. c. 149, § 191. For sexual harassment, G.L. c. 214, § 1C separately gives every person a right to be free from sexual harassment as defined in Chapter 151B, enforceable in superior court within the time § 9 of Chapter 151B allows; a claim that is also actionable under Chapter 151B may go to superior court only after a timely MCAD complaint.

How long do you have to file a harassment complaint with the MCAD?

A complaint must be filed within 300 days after the alleged act of discrimination (G.L. c. 151B, § 5). A court action may be brought 90 days after the MCAD filing, or sooner with a commissioner's written assent, and no later than three years after the alleged unlawful practice (§ 9).

Does Massachusetts require sexual harassment training?

No. Section 3A(e) encourages employers to provide training within one year of hire, but does not require it. Section 3A(b) does require every covered employer to adopt a written sexual harassment policy and give each employee a copy every year and new employees at hire.

Is my employer responsible for harassment by a supervisor in Massachusetts?

In College-Town v. MCAD (1987), the Supreme Judicial Court held that an employer is liable for discrimination committed by those on whom it confers authority, without an additional notice requirement.

Can a coworker or supervisor be personally liable for harassment in Massachusetts?

Section 4(5) of Chapter 151B makes it unlawful for any person, whether an employer or an employee or not, to aid, abet, incite, compel or coerce an act the chapter forbids, or to attempt to do so.

Does Massachusetts law cover harassment based on race or religion?

Yes. Section 4(1) bars discrimination in terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of race, religious creed and other listed traits, and the MCAD states that Chapter 151B prohibits workplace harassment based on actual or perceived membership in a protected class.

Is workplace bullying illegal in Massachusetts?

Chapter 151B reaches harassment tied to a protected trait and contains no rule on general workplace bullying. Chapter 258E's definition of harassment covers three or more willful and malicious acts aimed at a specific person, or a single act of forced sexual relations or one of the crimes the definition lists, and a person suffering such harassment may seek a harassment prevention order.