Patterson International Corp. v. Herrin

264 N.E.2d 361, 25 Ohio Misc. 79, 53 Ohio Op. 2d 177, 1970 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 311
CourtCourt of Common Pleas of Ohio, Hamilton County
DecidedOctober 6, 1970
DocketNo. A-250590
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 264 N.E.2d 361 (Patterson International Corp. v. Herrin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Common Pleas of Ohio, Hamilton County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Patterson International Corp. v. Herrin, 264 N.E.2d 361, 25 Ohio Misc. 79, 53 Ohio Op. 2d 177, 1970 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 311 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1970).

Opinion

Keefe, J.

This suit in equity was brought by the Patterson International Corporation against the defendant, Maurice J. Herrin, Jr. Plaintiff seeks injunctive relief, compensatory damages, punitive damages and a reasonable allowance for attorneys’ fees.

Defendant, in his answer, counterclaim and cross-claim, asks that the complaint be dismissed, that L. C. Patterson, Jr., president of plaintiff company, be made a party in this action, that defendant be awarded compensatory damages, that he be awarded punitive damages and also that he recover a reasonable allowance for attorneys’ fees.

[81]*81Originally a temporary restraining order was granted by this court. For good cause shown the temporary restraining order has been extended, without objection by either party, until such time as these findings of fact and conclusions of law are filed. See Rule 65(A) of the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure.

After the commencement of the hearing on the application for a preliminary injunction this court ordered the trial of the action on the merits to be advanced and consolidated with the hearing of the application. This order was made by the court pursuant to its authority under Rule 65(B)(2).

At the time I ordered consolidation of the hearing on the application for a preliminary injunction with trial on the merits counsel for the parties made no request of any kind for a jury trial for those parts of their cases to which they were entitled to a jury. Since there was no demand or motion fo” a jury and since the new civil rules provide that issues not demanded for trial by jury be tried by the court, the trial in this matter following the court’s order of consolidation was without a jury. See Rules of Civil Procedure numbers 38 and 39.

It is noted parenthetically that there is no cause to suppose that the parties were dissatisfied with the trial of the action on the merits without a jury but it was my determination that if they wanted a jury under the new rules of civil procedure the parties had an obligation to demand one after the court ordered that the trial be on the merits.

There being nothing presented by Mr. L. 0. Patterson, Jr., or his counsel which could reasonably be construed as any objection to his being included as a party in this action this court, and apparently the original parties, did consider him as a party. Rule 21.

In its complaint, plaintiff, Patterson International Corporation, hereinafter abbreviated P. I. C., seeks to enforce a restrictive covenant contained in an agreement entered into between the plaintiff and Maurice J. Herrin, Jr., defendant, op. January 2, 1969. Plaintiff is engaged in the [82]*82promotion and sale of coin-operated soccer games including one known as “foosball.” Defendant commenced his employment with plaintiff on or about January 2, 1969, and prior to that time defendant had no knowledge of the plaintiff’s methods of business operations, suppliers or customers.

In the contract of January 2, 1969, the defendant agreed to the following:

5. Employee shall not, either during or after termination of his employment by employer (whether such termination be with or without cause), divulge to any person, firm or corporation, or use on his own behalf, any information, acquired by him during his employment, concerning employer’s trade secrets, methods of operation, suppliers, and customers Upon termination of his employment, employee shall deliver up to employer all notes, records, memoranda, complete correspondence files and other papers (in English or any other language) relating to employer’s trade secrets, methods of operation, suppliers and customers.

6. Employee shall not, during the period of his employment by employer and for a period of eighteen (18) months following termination of his employment (whether such termination be with or without cause), either for himself or on behalf of any person, firm, or corporation, directly or indirectly, and in competition with employer:

(a) solicit, or attempt to divert from employer, the business of any of employer’s customers or suppliers; or

(b) Engage in a business similar to employer’s in any of the following areas: [45 states listed.] and such other areas in which employer may establish business relations during the period of emnloyee’s employment.

7. If employee breaches or threatens to breach any of the terms of paragraph 5 or 6 above, employer shall be entitled to apply to any court of competent jurisdiction for an injunction against such breach, actual or threatened.

During the month of June 1970, defendant was absent from his employment for eight days. Although he generally disputes that he was absent that many days his testimony revealed a vagueness as to the exact number of days [83]*83and the dates upon which the absences occurred. The greater weight of the evidence on this subject establishes that the defendant was absent eight days in June. Each time after defendant’s absences on June 10, 11, 12 and 17, 18 and 19 plaintiff’s president, L. C. Patterson, Jr., indicated to the defendant Mr. Patterson’s disapproval of his absences and instructed him not to repeat them or else defendant’s employment with the plaintiff corporation would be in jeopardy. On June 29 and 30 the defendant again failed to report for work but late on the afternoon of June 30 defendant telephoned Mr. Patterson and made statements which indicated that he realized that his job was in jeopardy, asked Mr., Patterson if he could talk to him to which Patterson agreed and the defendant went to the plaintiff’s office and met with Mr. Patterson. At that time, either during the telephone conversation or in the subsequent meeting, Mr. Patterson explained to defendant that he had that day sent defendant a telegram which read as follows:

“Unless our property is returned by 12 noon on Wednesday, July 1, it will be necessary to follow our attorney’s advice and to take legal action to recover the property.”

The evidence clearly establishes that when the defendant talked with Mr. Patterson on June 30 and also on the following day when defendant returned to plaintiff’s office to return some property, defendant realized that his employment situation with the plaintiff company was precarious. During the course of the conversation between Mr. Patterson and defendant on July 1, the subject of defendant’s loyalty to plaintiff company arose. It is difficult to determine the source of the original reference to loyalty. However, it is unnecessary to decide who brought up the topic. It is a fact that after the subject of loyalty was mentioned, the defendant disclosed that he had been importuned at some previous time to sell the names of plaintiff’s customers to a competitor or competitors. This, he reported to Mr. Patterson, he had refused to do. It must be closely noted that the subject of the invited sale of trade secret information to others was brought up by the defendant [84]*84himself on July 1. Obviously it was an attempt on the part of the defendant to gain favor with Mr. Patterson and hopefully to cause Mr. Patterson to change his mind about dismissing defendant because of his eight days absence in June.

After defendant made known the telephone call which he had received asking him to be disloyal to his employer, Mr. Patterson readily saw in defendant’s disclosure the availability of evidence which Mr.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

LCI Communications, Inc. v. Wilson
700 F. Supp. 1390 (W.D. Pennsylvania, 1988)
Alside, Inc. v. Larson
220 N.W.2d 274 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1974)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
264 N.E.2d 361, 25 Ohio Misc. 79, 53 Ohio Op. 2d 177, 1970 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 311, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/patterson-international-corp-v-herrin-ohctcomplhamilt-1970.