J.B. Prata, Ltd. v. Bichay, 82-412-A
| Decision Date | 14 November 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 82-412-A,82-412-A |
| Parties | J.B. PRATA, LTD. v. Magdi BICHAY et al. ppeal. |
| Court | Rhode Island Supreme Court |
This is an appeal from a Superior Court decree preliminarily enjoining the defendants from soliciting or accepting orders for pressure-sensitive tape from the plaintiff's customers.
The defendants, Magdi Bichay and Paul Vasconcellos, worked as salesmen for plaintiff, J.B. Prata, Ltd. (Prata). Neither defendant, however, had signed either an employment contract or a noncompetition agreement.
Prata sells several types of adhesive paper products, including pressure-sensitive tape and stretch film, 1 to approximately 1,400 manufacturers in New England. It purchases its products from various suppliers, tailors some to fit a customer's particular needs, changes the labels on all, and ships them to its customers.
Both defendants left Prata in March 1982 and immediately became salesmen for a competitor, Pacific Paper Products, Inc. Prata obtained the preliminary injunction described above. The defendants appealed, claiming that the injunction was improperly granted or, in the alternative, that the relief granted was too broad. Prata cross-appealed, claiming the relief granted was not broad enough.
The only issue to be addressed in this case is whether or not the trial court erred in granting the preliminary injunction. In examining this issue, our scope of review is limited to whether or not the trial court abused its discretion. Griggs and Browne Co. v. Healy, R.I., 453 A.2d 761 (1982); Gilbane Building Co. v. Cianci, 117 R.I. 317, 366 A.2d 154 (1976). Such an abuse will not be found if the party requesting the preliminary injunction has at least made out a prima facie case. Griggs and Browne Co., R.I., 453 A.2d at 762.
Prima facie evidence has been defined by this court as that amount of evidence which, if unrebutted, is sufficient to satisfy the burden of proof on a particular issue. Nocera v. Lembo, 121 R.I. 216, 397 A.2d 524 (1979).
In the present case, plaintiff established that defendants were employed by plaintiff, acquired certain information while so employed, and then left plaintiff to work for a competitor. In addition, the trial court specifically found that the information defendants acquired was acquired as a direct result of the confidential relationship that existed between plaintiff and both defendants. The defendants are in a position where use of the information they acquired is likely to cause economic harm to plaintiff. If unrebutted, this evidence would satisfy the burden of proof required for having a permanent injunction imposed. Therefore, we are of the opinion that such evidence constitutes a prima facie case.
In so deciding, we find that the trial court did not...
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