A recent Massachusetts Superior Court decision holds, on summary judgment, that a company may not enforce a noncompete/non-solicitation agreement against a former employee when the former employer had materially breached the agreement by changing the terms of employment. Specifically, the employer changed the employee’s job responsibilities and title, and cut his annual salary by $40,000.
There’s nothing particularly surprising about this ruling, which is a reminder to employers that they can sacrifice the enforceability of a noncompete by materially changing the terms of an employment agreement. This can be avoided by entering into a new agreement containing the modified terms, something the employer in this case failed to do.
Protege Software v. Colameta (Sup. Ct. Middlesex, July 16, 2012) ( Kirpalani, J.)