Two recent cases applying Massachusetts law signal a willingness
by state and federal courts to enforce noncompetition agreements.
In each case, a judge held a former employee to the terms of fairly
broad noncompetition agreements. Notably, each decision also cited
to an often-criticized legal theory known as the "inevitable
disclosure doctrine" in holding that the company was likely to
experience irreparable harm, which justified an injunction against
the company's former employee.
In Empirix Inc. v. Alexy Ivanov,1 the
plaintiff employer (Empirix) sued to prevent a former sales and
engineering employee from going to work for a competitor. Mr.
Ivanov had signed an agreement with Empirix that prohibited
competition and solicitation for one year following employment in a
broad geographic area. Mr. Ivanov was a specialized and trained
engineer working on a new and technically advanced line of business
for Empirix. After his return from months of training on
Empirix's
