Brown v. Office of the Commissioner of Probation

This case presents the novel issue of whether a plaintiff who recovers punitive damages as part of a judgment under the provisions of G. L. c. 151B, § 9, against a subdivision of the Commonwealth may be awarded postjudgment interest on that award and on the award of attorney’s fees and costs, or whether sovereign immunity bars such interest.1 The statutes relevant to the issue, including those under which the punitive *730damages were awarded, i.e., c. 151B, and G. L. c. 235, § 8 (interest on judgments), are silent on the matter. Neither the Appeals Court nor the Supreme Judicial Court has…