Employer’s aggressive tactics allow court to deny enforcement of noncompete

October 2022 employment law letter

Authors:

Trevor R. Brice, Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C.

Massachusetts enacted significant noncompete reform in 2018. Under Massachusetts law, noncompete agreements entered after October 1, 2018, can only be used and enforced if they comply with the standards of the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act (MNAA).

Unless all the MNAA requirements are met, a noncompete agreement is unenforceable. If the agreement is enforceable and an employee violates it, the employer can move to enforce it. A Massachusetts Superior Court, however, has defined tactics that step over the line of valid enforcement of a noncompete agreement in a recent case.

The standard

All noncompete agreements in Massachusetts that were entered into on or after October 1, 2018, are subject to the MNAA. The Act states that a noncompete must meet the following requirements:

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