Non-compete agreements must be reasonably limited in time and geographic scope and supported by consideration in order to be enforceable (among other factors). In many circumstances, the “consideration” equals a job. As an employee’s job changes, however, a new non-compete may be required. In 2004, three separate Massachusetts Superior Court decisions made clear that a restrictive covenant is likely unenforceable where it was entered into prior to material changes — such as a promotion — in an employment relationship.
Lycos, Inc. v. Lincoln Jackson, 18 Mass. L. Rep. 256 (2004) (Aug. 24, 2004) (Houston, J.) (denying request for a preliminary injunction “[b]ecause a material change in the employment relationship between [defendant] and [plaintiff] voided the previous Agreement, and because defendant did not sign the Offer Letter incorporating the old Agreement, no written nondisclosure, noncompetition and developments agreement now exists between the parties”)
R.E. Moulton, Inc. v. Lee, 18 Mass. L. Rep. 157 (June 17, 2004) (Kottmyer, J.) (denying request for a preliminary injunction where employee’s position and compensation changed, but no new non-compete agreement was signed and the employer did not notify the employee that he was still subject to the non-compete clause)
Cypress Group, Inc. v. Stride & Assocs., Inc., 17 Mass. L. Rep. 436 (Feb. 11, 2004) (Burnes, J.) (denying request for a preliminary injunction because employees did not sign new restrictive covenant after their promotions to new positions at company)
Recently, the First Circuit’s decision in Astro-Med v. Nihon, called this principle into question. The case originated out of the District Court of Rhode Island. In Astro-Med, Kevin Plant signed a non-compete in 2002 when he joined the company as a Product Specialist, which prohibited from working in all of North America and Europe for a period of one year after his employment ended. In 2004, the company promoted Plant to a sales role in which he served the state of Florida. The non-compete agreement, as written, was unenforceable because the geographic scope was far too broad. The District Court revised the non-compete agreement for the employer so that it could enforceable. In doing so, the court curtailed its territorial reach to Florida and certain customers.
Plant argued that, even with the District Court’s revisions, the non-compete was still unenforceable due to material changes in his employment when he was promoted to a sales role in 2004 and assigned a territory. Although the non-compete agreement was governed by Rhode Island law, Plant cited to Massachusetts law as persuasive authority. Noting the employer’s complete lack of effort to have Plant sign a new non-compete agreement following his promotion, the First Circuit rejected this argument:
Assuming that Rhode Island would adopt Massachusetts’ material change rule, the evidence in this case is insufficient to generate its application. Plant’s job change from product specialist to district sales manager does not reflect a mutual abandonment and rescission of the non-competition provision; there is no suggestion that Astro-Med approached Plant with a new employment agreement; and, there is no evidence of intent on either Astro-Med’s or Plant’s part to revoke or supersede the employment agreement.
Unfortunately, the First Circuit ignored language in F.A. Bartlett Tree Expert Co. v. Barrington, which makes clear that a material change in employment, by itself, can be evidence that a prior non-compete has been abandoned:
The defendant worked under the 1948 contract for twelve years. In 1960, the defendant’s rate of compensation and sales area were changed. Such far reaching changes strongly suggest that the parties had abandoned their old arrangement and had entered into a new relationship.
F.A. Bartlett Tree Expert Co., 353 Mass. 585, 587 (1968).
As other courts interpreting the Massachusetts “material change” rule have recognized, whether an employer has requested a new non-compete following a change in the employment relationship is not dispositive. Rather, “such efforts constitute additional proof that a new employment relationship was forming ….” See Iron Mountain v. Taddeo, 455 F. Supp. 2d 124, 134 (EDNY 2006) (emphasis added). Management-side attorneys will likely use the Astro-Med decision to argue in favor of the enforceability of non-competes that pre-date an employee’s promotion. A careful reading of each Massachusetts case addressing the “material change” doctrine, however, makes clear that a promotion by itself can (under certain circumstances) constitute sufficient evidence that a new employment relationship was created — requiring a new non-compete.
