Susan Miele v. Foundation Medicine, Inc.

Summary

The court held that the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act does not apply to a nonsolicitation agreement merely because a breach triggers forfeiture of severance benefits. Because forfeiture-for-competition agreements are a subset of noncompetition agreements, and the Act expressly excludes nonsolicitation agreements from that broader category, the forfeiture clause was outside the Act. The court reversed the partial judgment on the pleadings and remanded for further proceedings.