Kolling

Respondents brought an action against appellants for 1) “Interference with Advantageous Business and Contractual Relations,” and 2) violatiohs of the Cartwright Act (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 16700 et seq.). The tort action was abandoned after the trial court’s ruling that the damages sought by it were de minimis. The Cartwright Act antitrust case proceeded to jury trial, after which a verdict and judgment in favor of respondents Kolling and Fisher in the amounts of $102,915.23 and $62,471.89, respectively, were entered.

Two separate claims comprise the antitrust action which is the subject of the appeal. The primary theory of recovery is the “business claim,” the essence of which is that appellants terminated respondent Rolling’s newspaper distributorship, refused to recognize and honor an agreement by which the distributorship was transferred to respondent Fisher, and failed to hire Fisher as a replacement distributor, for reasons which amounted to a conspiracy to restrain trade. The secondary action is brought by Rolling alone, and is designated the “territorial restriction claim.” In it, Kolling argues that respondents reduced the territory of his distributorship in 1973…