News & Analysis as of

Breach of Contract Contract Terms Employment Litigation

Proskauer - California Employment Law

Arbitration Agreement Was Unconscionable

Velarde v. Monroe Operations, LLC, 111 Cal. App. 5th 1009 (2025) - The Court noted “[t]here was extensive evidence of procedural unconscionability, with an adhesive contract, buried in a stack of 31 documents to be signed...more

Jenner & Block

Delaware Court Refuses to Enforce or Modify Overbroad Noncompete in Cleveland Integrity Services v. Byers

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In Cleveland Integrity Services, LLC v. Byers (Del. Ch. Feb. 28, 2025), the Delaware Court of Chancery declined to enforce a two-year non-compete agreement that it found to be geographically overbroad and refused to narrow or...more

Dickinson Wright

Start the Clock—The Case for Including Contractual Limitations Periods in Employment Agreements.

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Contractual limitations periods provide parties on both sides of an agreement certainty regarding the filing of a potential action. But many employers do not know that they may include such contractual limitations periods in...more

Falcon Rappaport & Berkman LLP

Delaware Chancery Court Narrows the Path for Enforceable Non-Competes: Lessons from North American Fire and Payscale

A notable trend has emerged in Delaware with respect to the enforceability of non-competes – while once considered a management-friendly jurisdiction, two recent decisions demonstrate a marked shift towards a closer scrutiny...more

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints

Top Massachusetts Court Clarifies That Non-Solicitation Covenants Fall Outside the State’s Non-Compete Law

In a closely watched decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in Miele v. Foundation Medicine, Inc. clarified that the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act (MNAA) (G.L. c. 149, § 24L) does not apply to...more

Morgan Lewis

Massachusetts High Court Clarifies Noncompete Law’s Scope, Declines to Let Nonsolicits ‘Through the Back Door’

Morgan Lewis on

In Miele v. Foundation Medicine, Inc., the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) clarified that the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act (MNAA or the Act) does not apply to a forfeiture clause triggered by a breach...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Supreme Judicial Court Clarifies Scope of Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act

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The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) has ruled that a forfeiture clause triggered by a breach of a non-solicitation agreement is not a "forfeiture for competition agreement" under the Massachusetts Noncompetition...more

Bennett Jones LLP

Not So Dependable? BC Court Says Employers May Not Expect Dependent Contractors to Get Less Reasonable Notice than Employees

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In the recent decision of Ursic v Country Lumber Ltd., 2025 BCSC 970 (Country Lumber), the Supreme Court of British Columbia held that there is no presumption that dependent contractors ought to receive less reasonable notice...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

The Forfeited Equity Trap: Why Your Non-Compete Might Be Worthless

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Imagine you’re a private equity firm. You buy a company, and you want to retain and incentivize key employees, so you give them some equity in the form of incentive units.  You also want to prevent them from running off and...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Restrictive Covenants Unenforceable Where Consideration Forfeited

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In North American Fire Ultimate Holdings, LP v. Alan Doorly, the Delaware Court of Chancery held that the restrictive covenants included in an incentive unit grant agreement were unenforceable when the units received by the...more

Dickinson Wright

Start the Clock—The Case for Including Contractual Limitations Periods in Employment Agreements

Dickinson Wright on

Contractual limitations periods provide parties on both sides of an agreement certainty regarding the filing of a potential action. But many employers do not know that they may include such contractual limitations periods in...more

Jenner & Block

Delaware Supreme Court Reaffirms Reluctance to Blue-Pencil Overbroad Restrictive Covenants in Sunder v. Jackson

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The Delaware Supreme Court’s decision in Sunder Energy, LLV v. Jackson, No. 455, 2023, 2024 Del. LEXIS 407 (December 10, 2024) reaffirmed the courts’ limited willingness to modify or “blue-pencil” overbroad restrictive...more

Wiley Rein LLP

Fifth Circuit Holds Carve-Back Provision Could Not Overcome Breach of Contract Exclusion for Louisiana Wage Payment Act Claim

Wiley Rein LLP on

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, applying Louisiana law, has held that a breach of contract exclusion barred coverage for a judgment awarded to two employees who were not paid severance as required...more

Epstein Becker & Green

Massachusetts High Court To Weigh In on Forfeiture-for-Solicitation Provisions in Era of Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement...

Epstein Becker & Green on

On Monday, March 3, 2025, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) heard argument in Miele v. Foundation Medicine, Inc., regarding whether the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act, G. L. c. 149, § 24L (the...more

Littler

Ontario, Canada Court Finds Employer Repudiated Employment Agreement When it Failed to Pay Employee’s Contractual Severance

Littler on

In Timmins v. Artisan Cells, 2025 CanLII 2387, Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice found, in an undefended claim, that the employers “by their correspondence and actions” repudiated the employee’s employment agreement when...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP

Top Commercial Disputes of 2024: What You Need to Know and What to Look Out for in 2025

As we begin 2025 and set our goals for the new year (realistic or unrealistic), we outline some of the significant English court rulings from 2024 and the key lessons they offer for the year ahead. In 2024, the courts...more

Mayer Brown

Hong Kong Court Clarifies the Application of Implied Terms in Employment Contracts

Mayer Brown on

The recent case of Yang Zhizhong v. Nomura International (Hong Kong) Limited helpfully clarifies the applicability of Implied Term of Trust and Confidence, the Braganza duty and the Anti-avoidance Term in the context of...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Wyoming Supreme Court Eliminates the Blue Pencil Rule for Noncompete Agreements

On February 25, 2022, the Wyoming Supreme Court issued a decision prohibiting courts from revising, or “blue penciling,” noncompete agreements to be reasonable and enforceable under the law. The decision overrules the Wyoming...more

Littler

Ontario, Canada Court Reminds Employers it is Important to Adhere to Their Contracts’ Termination Provisions

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In Perretta v. Rand A Technology Corporation, 2021 ONSC 2111, Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice ordered an employer to pay an employee damages for reasonable notice at common law when it decided the employer repudiated its...more

Littler

Ontario, Canada Court Finds Employee Repudiated Her Employment Contract When She Refused to Work Unless New Conditions Were Met

Littler on

In Anderson v Total Instant Lawns Ltd, 2021 ONSC 2933 (Total Instant Lawns), an employee claimed her job was terminated and sought damages for wrongful dismissal.  The employer denied the employee was dismissed and argued...more

Littler

Ontario, Canada Court Reminds Employers that Improperly Drafted Restrictive Covenants are Unenforceable

Littler on

In Labrador Recycling Inc. v. Folino, 2021 ONSC 2195 (Labrador Recycling), Ontario’s Superior Court denied an employer’s motion for an urgent injunction to restrain its former employee from competing with it contrary to the...more

Littler

A Rare Occurrence: California Court Overturns Arbitrator’s Award

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California’s statutory ban on post-employment covenants, which are enforceable in most other states, has bedeviled employers trying to protect confidential information and trade secrets. The state’s Business and Professions...more

Burr & Forman

South Carolina Professor Loses Breach of Employment Contract Case

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A tenured professor at Erskine College in Due West claimed the institution breached its employment contract with him as set forth in the faculty manual. The trial court overruled the jury verdict in the professor’s favor, but...more

Genova Burns LLC

"Breaking Contracts has Consequences" - Third Circuit Backs Employer with Restrictive Covenant Agreements

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What happens when your employee signs multiple restrictive covenant agreements with different terms, and then violates them? A recent decision from the Third Circuit in Heartland Payment Sys., LLC v. Volrath addresses a...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Wisconsin Supreme Court Provides Guidance to Private Universities on Faculty Discipline and Academic Freedom

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Many private colleges and universities have faculty handbooks and/or collective bargaining agreements that, among other things, establish internal disciplinary procedures and make promises to faculty about academic freedom....more

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