San Jose Construction, Inc. v. S.B.C.C., Inc.

This appeal arises out of an action by plaintiff San Jose Construction, Inc. (SJC) against its former employee, Richard Foust, and Foust’s new employer, S.B.C.C., Inc., doing business as South Bay Construction Company (South Bay). The trial court granted a motion by South Bay for summary judgment, finding no triable issues of fact in the causes of action for misappropriation of trade secrets, intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, unfair competition, and interference with contract. SJC challenges the trial court’s ruling as to all but the last of these claims. We agree with SJC that issues of material fact exist and therefore must reverse the judgment in South Bay’s favor.

Background

SJC and South Bay are local competitors in the business of commercial construction. Defendant Foust was a project manager at SJC from September 1999 to March 30, 2004. He directed all phases of construction from the preliminary design to the closeout of a project; in most cases he was the “interface” between the owner and the company.

In early 2004 Foust was responsible for 18 SJC projects in various stages of preconstruction, as well as two projects under…