It's Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town

Stop the presses! The feisty local tabloid was totally legit yesterday!

Start with the Boston Globe, where correspondent Matt Stout (formerly of the Boston Herald) filed this report.

Judge overseeing Hefner lawsuit steps down

The Superior Court judge who approved a request to shield the name of the man suing former Senate president Stanley C. Rosenberg and his husband, Bryon Hefner, abruptly stepped down from the civil case Friday, shortly after the two filed paperwork opposing it.

Judge Debra A. Squires-Lee did not say why she recused herself from the case against Hefner and Rosenberg, which alleges that Hefner sexually assaulted a then-State House aide and that Rosenberg “knew or was aware” that Hefner posed a risk to others.

The aide, identified as John Doe in court filings, said Hefner sexually assaulted him at least three times in 2015 and 2016.

Make Joe Sciacca go nuts (bad division) tenth graf:

The Boston Herald first reported Rosenberg and Hefner’s filings.

Then again, Jennifer Schuessler’s New York Times piece yesterday about BSO flutist Elizabeth Rowe’s equal-pay lawsuit quite likely eased the pain.

Star Flutist Sues Boston Symphony Over Pay Equity

The top flutist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra has filed a gender pay discrimination suit against the ensemble, claiming that her compensation is only about 75 percent that of her closest comparable colleague, the orchestra’s principal oboist, who is a man.

The suit, which was filed on Monday by Elizabeth Rowe, the orchestra’s principal flutist and one of its most prominent musicians, appears to be the first under a new law in Massachusetts that requires equal pay for “comparable work.” The law was passed in 2016, but it did not go into effect until Sunday, after employers had two years to rectify disparities.

Make Joe Sciacca go nuts (good division) fifth graf:

[A]ccording to Ms. Rowe’s lawsuit, which seeks $200,000 in unpaid wages, pay disparities can be significant. Ms. Rowe, 44, is paid about $70,000 less each year than John Ferrillo, 62, the principal oboist, based on data in the lawsuit and tax records. That is despite the fact that they play next to each other and are both “leaders of the orchestra in similarly demanding artistic roles,” according to the lawsuit, which was first reported by The Boston Herald.

That, my friends, is music to the hungry local tabloid’s ears.