A quarterly summary and brief analysis of significant decisions issued by the Massachusetts Superior Court Business Litigation Session. A service of O’Connor, Carnathan and Mack LLC.		  

July 2006

Volume 3
Number 1
Page 2
 

Summarizing opinions from January 1, 2006 through
May 31, 2006


Frivolous Claims for Violation of Non-Compete
Constitute a Violation of M.G.L. ch. 93A
 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 

 

 

 
     

O  T  H  E  R      D  E  C  I  S  I  O  N  S  :

Brooks Automation, Inc. v. Blueshift Techologies, Inc., 20 Mass. L. Rep. 541,
2006 Mass. Super. LEXIS 18 (Jan. 24, 2006) (Gants, J.).
     

More than a year after former employee Peter van der Meulen left his employment with Plaintiff Brooks Automation, Inc. (“Brooks”), Brooks filed an action for violation of Mr. van der Meulen’s one-year non-compete agreement. Mr. van der Meulen had started his own company, Blueshift Technologies, Inc., which offered competitive semiconductor wafer manufacturing technology.

Brooks asserted that by preparing to compete during the term of his non-compete, van der Meulen had violated his agreement. Immediately after filing the action, and before serving the defendants, Brooks notified a major potential Blueshift client of the pending lawsuit.

Defendants counterclaimed for tortious interference with contract and violation of M.G.L. ch. 93A. The Court denied two motions to dismiss the counterclaims, one based upon the anti-SLAPP statute, M.G.L. ch. 231, § 59H.

After trial, the jury and the Court concluded that Brooks’ action was
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“devoid of any reasonable factual support or any arguable basis in law.” The Court emphatically rejected the contention that a former employee cannot prepare to compete during the term of his non-compete agreement. The Court also concluded that Brooks’ assertion that van der Meulen misused confidential information was devoid of any factual support. The specific components of the technology at issue were all in the public domain, and van der Meulen’s combination of the components materially differed from Brooks’. The Court summed up its view of Brooks case as “from its inception, a case in search of a viable theory.”

The Court awarded actual damages in the amount of $209,300 based upon the lost contract, and trebled that amount for violation of Chapter 93A. The Court also awarded attorneys’ fees in amount to be determined.

This case is a cautionary tale for employers.


 
 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 


 

 

 

 
 
     
     
 


No Insurance Coverage for Class Action Based on Junk Faxes
 

 

 
 

 

 


 

 



 

Terra Nova Ins. Co. v. Metropolitan Antiques, LLC, 20 Mass. L. Rep. 430,
2006 Mass. Super. LEXIS 7 (Jan. 24, 2006) (van Gestel, J.).
     

The Court granted Terra Nova Insurance Company’s motion for summary judgment in a declaratory judgment action seeking a declaration that it did not have a duty to defend or indemnify Metropolitan Antiques, LLC (“Metropolitan”) in connection with a class action based upon allegations that Metropolitan had sent junk faxes in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

Applying New Jersey Law, the Court held that Metropolitan’s alleged actions
 

 

 


 

 
were intentional, and therefore did not constitute an “accident” within the meaning of the policy. Following decisions by the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Seventh and Fourth Circuits, the Court further held that sending junk faxes did not cause an “advertising injury” by violating a person’s right of privacy within the meaning of the policy, because the faxes intruded upon the recipients’ right to be let alone, rather than their interest in secrecy.
 

 

 

 

 

 


 
 
P A G E   1  2  3  4  5