DECISION AND ORDER In this action for breach of an employment contract, plaintiff Liliah Cantor, M.D. (“Plaintiff” or “Dr. Cantor”) seeks to recover from defendant former employer Boston Children’s Health Physicians, LLP (“Defendant” or “Boston Children’s”) for compensation which she claims was wrongfully withheld from her during the period from December 1, 2016 up to the date of her termination by Defendant in February 2019. Procedural Background This case was commenced by Plaintiff in September 2017 while she was still employed by Defendant and revolves around a series of three employment contracts entered into between Plaintiff and Defendant’s predecessor in interest, Children’s & Women’s Physicians of Westchester, LLP (“Children’s & Women’s”). Her Complaint sets forth a single cause of action for breach of the last employment contract, signed in 2011 (the “2011 Agreement” or “2011 Contract”), alleging that the Defendant wrongfully reduced her annual compensation from $180,000 to $150,000 beginning in December 2016. Although the 2011 Contract by its terms called for an annual salary of $150,000, Plaintiff maintained that the parties had actually agreed to a $180,000 figure, the annual rate at which she was actually compensated from January 1, 2012 until December 1, 2016. Beginning in December 2016, Plaintiff accepted, under protest, the $150,000 compensation amount and remained employed by Defendant after she brought suit and until she was terminated by Defendant as of February 15, 2019. Defendant denied the material allegations of the Complaint and interposed several affirmative defenses, including, most notably, the alleged lack of a written contract modification altering the 2011 Contract’s compensation term. Discovery proceeded apace and after the Note of Issue was filed in October 2018, both sides moved for summary judgment. In the context of her motion, Plaintiff raised the issue of the reasonableness or unreasonableness of the restrictive covenant contained in the employment agreement. By Decision and Order dated January 28, 2019, Hon. Joan Lefkowitz denied both parties’ motions, holding that a factual issue was extant as to whether there had been a modification of the salary amount. With respect to the restrictive covenant, the Court ruled that it could not, at that time, make a determination as to the reasonableness or unreasonableness of it since Plaintiff remained employed by Defendant. For this reason and because no discovery has been conducted on the restrictive covenant issue, its alleged unreasonable time period and scope was not addressed at trial, and its relevance limited to any impact it may have had upon the issue of compensation under the Contract at issue. When settlement discussions between the parties did not bear fruit, this action was set down for trial by the Court alone, and tried on June 3 and 5, 2019. Plaintiff elected to proceed pro se and Defendant was represented by counsel. Plaintiff testified on her own behalf and called three additional witnesses: Leonard Newman, M.D., who signed the 2011 Agreement as President of Defendant’s predecessor, Children’s & Woman’s but who recalled virtually nothing of the meeting at which the 2011 Agreement was executed (Pl. Exh. 3; June 5 Trial Transcript (“Tr.”) at 7-10); Ronald Jacobson, M.D., who was also present at the meeting when the Agreement was signed and who signed the 2011 Agreement as “Supervisor”, whose recollection of such meeting was also somewhat vague; and Gerald Villucci, Defendant’s Chief Executive Officer. Defendant called no witnesses, relying instead upon its counsel’s cross examination of the witnesses called by Plaintiff. Factual Background As mentioned above, the fulcrum of this action is a series of employment contracts entered into by Plaintiff and Defendant’s predessor in interest, Children’s & Women’s beginning in January 2006 and culminating in the last contract in 2011, the contract Defendant is alleged to have breached. Each of the contracts contained, inter alia, a compensation term, a covenant not compete, and a provision requiring that any modification of its terms be in writing, signed by the parties. (See Ct. Exh. 1, Parties’ Joint Stipulation of Undisputed Facts
1-21)). The 2006 contract, styled as an “Employee’s Employment Agreement,” (the “2006 Contract”) provided for an annual salary to Plaintiff of $150,000, and contained a covenant not to compete limited to one hospital, the Westchester Medical Center, for a two year period, as well as a non-solicitation of patients undertaking by Plaintiff (Ct. Exh. 1,
