Justice Eileen Bransten
Plaintiff Volpe alleged that defendant The Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG) breached its contractual obligation to compensate him for work he performed related to IPG's acquisition of Facebook stock. Volpe, a senior account executive with IPG as well as the CEO of two wholly-owned IPG subsidiaries, contended that IPG sold its Facebook stock for a "realized value" in excess of $380 million. IPG moved to dismiss the complaint, asserting that Volpe's employment contract precluded his claims. The court dismissed the complaint in its entirety, finding that the parties' employment agreement bars a contract cause of action. The court noted that the final employment agreement's unambiguous terms stated that "any agreement" between the parties related to "any compensation" was superseded by the final employment agreement. The court therefore determined that the Facebook agreement was superseded by the final employment agreement, as any alleged oral agreement between the parties that preceded the final employment agreement was superseded by its clear terms, which made no mention of the Facebook agreement.
