The Delaware Supreme Court’s decision in Payscale Inc. v. Erin Norman and BetterComp, Inc., No. 297, 2025 (Del. Mar. 19, 2026), is an important course correction for employers seeking to enforce restrictive covenants tied to equity incentive plans. In a reversal of the Court of Chancery, the Supreme Court held that Vice Chancellor
restrictive covenants
Delaware Courts Reject Novel Attempt to Avoid Reasonableness Review of Restrictive Covenants
By Carl D. Neff on
In a pair of decisions from the Delaware Court of Chancery and the Delaware Supreme Court, Vice Chancellor Morgan T. Zurn and the Supreme Court en banc rejected a creative but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to circumvent the reasonableness requirement for restrictive covenants.
What struck me most about Vice Chancellor Zurn’s opinion is how it applies…