Massachusetts: Finally, Some Meat on the Bones of Its Noncompete Law?
Last month, in Hailey Boyd et al. v. The Boston Beer Co., Inc. , D. Mass. 1:25-cv-13618, two former brewery representatives of the Boston Beer Company (Boston Beer) initiated a putative class action for alleged violations of the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act (MNAA or the Act). The plaintiffs contend that Boston Beer’s noncompete agreements violate the Act’s requirement that noncompetes be supported by “garden leave” payments or other “mutually agreed consideration.” The case may finally provide guidance as to what “or other mutually agreed consideration” suffices to enforce a noncompete agreement in Massachusetts. The MNAA Enacted in 2018, the MNAA sets forth specific requirements that noncompetes must satisfy to be valid and enforceable under Massachusetts law. Among other things, the MNAA requires employers to pay “garden leave” or some other “mutually agreed consideration” during the enforcement period of the covenant. Mass Gen. Laws ch. 149, § 24L(b)(vii). While...