Monthly Archives: June 2014

For some time, I have been following the evolution of the “material change” defense to enforcement of a non-compete agreement in Massachusetts. Recently, it has been gaining traction, but there are still unanswered questions.

The doctrine was first introduced in F.A. Bartlett Tree Expert Co. v. Barrington by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in 1968. However, it was not applied with any consistency by Massachusetts courts until very recently when a number of trial level courts and a Massachusetts Federal District Court held that a restrictive covenant is not enforceable if the employee’s job duties, compensation or employment relationship substantially changed between the time the employee signed the initial non-compete agreement and the time the employee left the company. In short, these courts have refused to issue preliminary injunctions to employers of former employees who have been hired by competitors on the grounds that there was not a likelihood of success on the merits (one of the critical requirements that parties seeking preliminary injunctive relief must demonstrate to the court). Although the Eastern District of New York in Iron Mountain Information Management, Inc. v. Taddeo, applying Massachusetts law, adopted the doctrine in 2006, other states have not embraced the “material change” defense.