PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - ERISA Forfeiture Litigation
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) recently clarified the scope of the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act (MNAA). In Susan Miele v. Foundation Medicine, Inc., the SJC held the MNAA does not apply where a...more
On June 13, 2025, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued a significant decision in Miele v. Foundation Medicine, Inc. (SJC-13697) confirming that the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act (the “MNAA”) does...more
Although the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act expressly excludes nonsolicitation agreements from its definition of “noncompetition agreements,” the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) recently responded to a...more
On Friday, June 13, 2025, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued its decision in Miele v. Foundation Medicine, Inc., SJC-13967, holding that forfeiture clauses tied to non-solicitation agreements were definitively...more
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court just clarified that non-solicitation agreements aren’t subject to the Commonwealth’s strict noncompetition law just because they contain forfeiture provisions, handing businesses a...more
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
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
In Lawson v. Spirit AeroSystems, Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upheld the forfeiture of certain stock awards for violating a covenant not to compete. Like the Seventh Circuit in LKQ Corp. v....more
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
LKQ Corp. v. Rutledge, C.A. No. 110, 2024 (Del. Dec. 18, 2024) - In this en banc decision, the Delaware Supreme Court answered a certified question from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit...more
In 2024, employers rushed to track the twists and turns of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) noncompete ban, which attempted to limit the enforceability of agreements that restrict employees from working for a competitor...more
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
In a notable holding, the Delaware Supreme Court has confirmed that forfeiture-for-competition provisions generally are not subject to reasonableness review, greatly enhancing the likelihood of their enforceability. LKQ...more
In 2021, LKQ Corporation (LKQ) filed suit against Robert Rutledge, its former plant manager, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. LKQ alleged that Rutledge’s working for a competitor within nine...more
The Delaware Supreme Court’s ruling in Cantor Fitzgerald v. Ainslie, which reversed the Court of Chancery’s 2023 finding that forfeiture-for-competition provisions should be evaluated by the same “reasonableness” standard as...more
The Delaware Supreme Court recently clarified that forfeiture-for-competition clauses under the Employee Choice Doctrine may be enforceable against a broader range of employees, including middle managers, not just...more
On December 18, 2024, the Delaware Supreme Court (the “Court”) held in LKQ Corp. v. Rutledge that forfeiture-for-competition provisions in employee equity award agreements are enforceable in certain contexts. This article...more
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) ban on noncompetition covenants (“noncompetes”) could significantly impact the design and administration of employee benefits and executive compensation arrangements....more
On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission issued its final rule imposing a nationwide ban on employers using post-employment non-competes with current and former workers. Other than narrow exceptions for (1) existing...more
FTC RULE BANS NON-COMPETE CLAUSES FOR NON-SENIOR EMPLOYEES - Non-compete clauses have long been a contentious issue in employment agreements, with concerns raised about their potential to stifle competition and limit...more
Less than two months after the Delaware Supreme Court provided the employers, investment partners and other business leaders that trust in the stability of Delaware law to protect their critical business interests with the...more
Last week, the Delaware Supreme Court reversed a Chancery Court decision that we wrote about previously, which invalidated a forfeiture-for-competition provision as an unreasonable restraint of trade. The Ainslie et al. v....more
In a win for businesses that rely on restrictive covenants to protect their assets and investments, on January 29, 2024, the Delaware Supreme Court unanimously reversed a Chancery Court decision that invalidated a...more
Forfeiture clauses are one tactic. They provide a meaningful disincentive for employees to engage in competitive behavior. Noncompetes are under siege on multiple fronts. Originally published in Legal Dive - September...more
On January 4, 2023, in Ainslie, et al. v. Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P., the Delaware Court of Chancery invalidated the forfeiture-for-competition provision in the financial services company’s limited partnership agreement, based...more