Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 258, § 9 (2026)

Indemnity of public employees

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 9. Public employers may indemnify public employees, and the commonwealth shall indemnify persons holding office under the constitution, from personal financial loss, all damages and expenses, including legal fees and costs, if any, in an amount not to exceed $1,000,000 arising out of any claim, action, award, compromise, settlement or judgment by reason of an intentional tort, or by reason of any act or omission which constitutes a violation of the civil rights of any person under any federal or state law, if such employee or official or holder of office under the constitution at the time of such intentional tort or such act or omission was acting within the scope of his official duties or employment. No such employee or official, other than a person holding office under the constitution acting within the scope of his official duties or employment, shall be indemnified under this section for violation of any such civil rights if he acted in a grossly negligent, willful or malicious manner.

For purposes of this section, persons employed by a joint health district, regional health district or regional board of health, as defined by sections twenty-seven A and twenty-seven B of chapter one hundred and eleven, shall be considered employees of the city or town in which said incident, claim, suit, or judgment is brought pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 30 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1983–2025 · leading case: Howard v. Town of Burlington, 506 N.E.2d 102 (Mass. 1987).

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Howard v. Town of Burlington, 506 N.E.2d 102 (Mass. 1987). · cites it 9× “4 The plaintiffs claim that the allegedly defamatory statements of Davis were made outside the scope of the authority of the Burlington finance committee (committee) and that any payments by the town on behalf of Davis are not authorized by the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act, G.…”

Davis v. Coakley, 802 F.3d 128 (1st Cir. 2015). · cites it 5× “See Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 258, § 9 . Jason died on June 14, 2004.”

Rafferty v. Merck & Co., Inc., 92 N.E.3d 1205 (Mass. 2018). “See also G. L. c. 258, § 9 (public employees may not be indemnified for civil rights violations if employee "acted in a grossly negligent, willful[,] or malicious manner); G.”

Triplett v. Town of Oxford, 791 N.E.2d 310 (Mass. 2003). · cites it 3× “; and provided public employers with the discretion to indemnify public employees for financial loss and expenses arising from certain civil actions (intentional torts and civil rights violations), G. L. c. 258, § 9. The Legislature simultaneously repealed G.”

Pinshaw v. Metro. Dist. Comm'n, 524 N.E.2d 1351 (Mass. 1988). · cites it 2× “622, 630 (1984), we said that, under G.L.c. 258, § 9, a determination whether an employee is entitled to indemnification "would rest in the sound discretion of the public employer.”

Filippone v. Mayor of Newton, 467 N.E.2d 182 (Mass. 1984). · cites it 3× “4 As a matter of State *624 law, G. L. c. 258, § 9, provides authority for public employers’ indemnification of public employees.”

Breault v. Chairman of Bd, Fire Commr. of Springfield, 513 N.E.2d 1277 (Mass. 1987). · cites it 2× “" G.L.c. 258, § 9 (1986 ed.). [11] *36 Thus, when the Legislature adopted the Civil Rights Act one year later in 1979, it wrote on a common law slate recently wiped clean and newly limned with statutory markings.”

Filippone v. Mayor of Newton, 452 N.E.2d 239 (Mass. App. Ct. 1983). · cites it 4× “In the Superior Court, the plaintiffs sought, among other relief, a declaration concerning “the entitlement of Mayor Mann to be indemnified under G. L. c. 258, § 9, and Ordinance No. R-129.”

Miguel A. Figueroa-Rodriguez v. Jorge L. Aquino, Etc., 863 F.2d 1037 (1st Cir. 1988). “12, § 3E (West 1984) (employees within Executive Office of Human Services or Dept, of Education); Mass.Gen.Laws Ann. ch. 258, §§ 9, 9A, 10 (1984 ed.”

Clickner v. City of Lowell, 422 Mass. 539 (Mass. 1996). “Although we have never interpreted the phrase “acting within the scope of his office or employment” of § 2 of the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act, we have interpreted the nearly identical language of G.”

Jones v. Boykan, 464 Mass. 285 (Mass. 2013). “It is also the case that the city may indemnify Boykan pursuant to G. L. c. 258, § 9. The plaintiffs seek double costs in their brief on further appellate review.”

Am. Employers' Ins. v. City of Medford, 644 N.E.2d 241 (Mass. App. Ct. 1995). · cites it 3× “Accordingly, § 100C, rather than G. L. c. 258, § 9, is the statute applicable to the case.”

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