Most people's work lives take place in a relentlessly competitive marketplace marked by constant technological change.
In such a marketplace, it often makes good business sense for employers to ask new hires to sign a covenant not to compete when they come on board. After all, if a company is about to entrust someone with...
A company that runs embryonic stem-cell therapy trials is facing financial difficulties. The firm, Advanced Cell Technology, is conducting cutting-edge research about the safety and therapeutic options available through such treatments. However, the company is also facing a series of financial challenges, including at least one contract dispute, which could...
The owner of a Massachusetts office building sued the developer of a $1.6 billion project for allegedly not paying rent and attempting to get the building's tenants to relocate. The contract dispute pitted the owner against the redevelopment company that was charged with revitalizing downtown Quincy. The redeveloper was hit...
Massachusetts coffee drinkers may have heard that Starbucks has been ordered to pay Kraft Foods Group $2.76 billion as a result of arbitration hearings. The heart of the issue is a contract dispute over an agreement between the companies under which Kraft had sole rights to distribution, marketing and...
A Massachusetts hospital has been engaged in a two-year dispute with the nurses' union over proposed changes to overtime pay. In a union membership meeting on the issue, all but one of the attendees voted to use arbitration to resolve the contract dispute. However, the hospital president does not feel...
School nurses in a Massachusetts school district have asked state mediators to intervene in a contract dispute with school administrators that goes back to October 2011. Medford school nurses claim that they are paid 20 percent less than other school personnel even though the nurses are required to meet the same educational standards. The...
Massachusetts residents understand the need to have insurance contracts that provide adequate coverage for disasters and the importance of having the terms of the contracts carried out. United States-based insurer, HCI, has won a breach of contract dispute that it filed against Aon Benfield (AON). According to HCI, in 2009,...
Two important computer companies, Viacom and Google, are facing lawsuits that allege violation of children's privacy. The lawsuits concern Nick.com as well as NickJr.com, children's websites with many videos available for viewing. The suits state that Viacom and Google used cookies to track children's video selections and allege violations of the Video Privacy Protection...
A former scientist with tire maker Bridgestone was charged recently with stealing trade secrets from the company and then lying to the FBI in his involvement in the case. The man, a native of China, is accused of copying proprietary Bridgestone information from company computers onto CDs and sharing the information with a Chinese...
A recent decision by the Appeals Court in Massachusetts highlights the often convoluted issue of non-compete clauses in employment contracts.
The lawsuit
An employee with a Massachusetts company had an employment agreement which contained a non-compete clause. When that employee left the company, another employee (presumably his supervisor) released him from the non-compete provision, meaning that...
