In 2012, Engel & Schultz has successfully represented the founders of a start-up company, which had been valued at more than one quarter billion dollars. The founders had been subjected to a freeze out of their management responsibilities by a venture capital firm and another large institutional investor. Our firm alleged that the founders had been fraudulently induced to sign unconscionable employment agreements, which rendered their more than one million shares of common stock valueless. After months of negotiation, Engel & Schultz obtained substantial settlements for the founders.
In 2012, Engel & Schultz also appeared twice on appeals before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the highest appellate court in the Commonwealth. In one case, the firm successfully reduced the judgment (with interest) against the firm’s client (a general contractor for public construction projects) by more than $275,000. In the second case, the Court addressed the issue of whether “dating relationships” from which protective orders could be obtained extended to relationships formed over the internet.
The firm also negotiated severance agreements for numerous employees. In one case, the firm successfully settled a fraudulent inducement to accept employment claim on behalf of a senior vice president of a bank, whom the firm represented. In two cases, the firm settled breach of employment contract claims on behalf of executives who had been terminated allegedly for cause, which our clients contested.