Breachment, Non-Compete Agreement

My Husband is s Sofware Programmer.His status is H1B.He came to usa in newjersey based consultant company..and my husband was placed by a middle company to work in a Client Company which is in Newyork..After working for 15 months with the same client, my husband was offered by the client for full time job and he joined in the client place(client filed a separate h1b and he stamped the new h1b).But his old employer filed a case aginst him which says "notice to Cease and Desist".My husband signed in a agreement with old company when he was in india..that agreement says "in the event that you breach any provisions of this agreement or that your is terminated voluntarily or for casue prior to the completion of eighteen months or employment or whithin six months after your relocation to a new customer site or prior the completion of any project to which you are then assigned,you agree 1.10,000 dollars plus actual travel and relocation expenses..."

Please advise what my husband can do now..(note my husband was in bench for more than 5 months and he didnt get any salary for those periods and those 15 months periods he didnt get paid any vactions also)

thanks
Bhuvana