Brownfield
Keystone Fruit Marketing, Inc. v. Brownfield
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM *
The facts of this case are well-known to the parties. The district court found, after a non-jury trial, that William Brownfield breached his duty of loyalty to Keystone Fruit Marketing (KFM), his former employer, and that he tortiously interfered with KFM’s exclusive marketing contract with a client. At various points in this litigation, the district court also dismissed Brownfield’s counterclaim for a 2005 bonus allegedly owed to him, held that Brownfield’s customer list was not a trade secret as a matter of law, and declined to award prejudgment interest to KFM on its breach of duty of loyalty and tortious interference claims. Janet and William Brownfield appeal the first three of these rulings, while KFM cross-appeals the last two rulings. We affirm.
I. APPEAL OF JANET AND WILLIAM BROWNFIELD
The district court properly found that William Brownfield breached his duty of loyalty toward KFM. The undisputed facts demonstrate that while Brownfield was still employed as sales manager of KFM’s Walla Walla office, he actively assisted Grigg and Sons, a major KFM client, in severing its exclusive marketing relationship with KFM and setting up a competing marketing firm.…