A breach of a stock incentive plan has resulted in a damage award of more than $16 million to a class of holders of stock options that were canceled as the result of a merger, the Delaware Court of Chancery ruled Tuesday.

In Fox v. CDx Holdings, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster said it was the plan, promulgated in 2007, and not a subsequent merger agreement, that governed the relationship between the option holders and the company that underwent the merger.