Thomas v. Coastal Indus. Services, Inc.
| Decision Date | 09 April 1959 |
| Docket Number | No. 20401,20401 |
| Citation | 214 Ga. 832,108 S.E.2d 328 |
| Parties | Joseph C. THOMAS v. COASTAL INDUSTRIAL SERVICES, INC. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
J. Walter Cowart, Thomas Delano Maurice, Savannah, for plaintiff in error.
Corish, Alexander & Shea, Savannah, for defendant in error.
Syllabus Opinion by the Court
The exception is to the judgment of the Superior Court of Chatham County overruling the general demurrer to the petition of Coastal Industrial Services, Inc., and to the granting of a temporary injunction against the defendant. The petitioner sought to enjoin the defendant from violating the terms of a contract of employment, in which the defendant agreed that, during his employment and for a year after its termination, he would not solicit business or patronage of the kind he had performed for the petitioner from any person whomsoever in 34 named Georgia counties and 12 named South Carolina counties. The court enjoined the defendant from doing such business in 31 of the 34 Georgia counties named in the contract. Held:
1. 'Though a promise may be nudum pactum when made because the promisee is not bound, it becomes binding when he subsequently furnishes the consideration contemplated by doing what he was expected to do.' Brown v. Bowman, 119 Ga. 153(1), 46 S.E. 410. Even though the agreement does not disclose what salary the defendant was to be paid or the length of time he was to be employed by the plaintiff, and despite the fact that the defendant was already employed by the plaintiff at the time the agreement was entered into, mutuality and sufficient consideration to vitalize the ancillary agreement were supplied by performance under the agreement. Breed v. National Credit Ass'n, 211 Ga. 629, 632, 88 S.E.2d 15. Accordingly, the covenant sued upon was not void for lack of consideration; and the trial court properly overruled the demurrers.
2. Although contracts in general restraint of trade are void as being contrary to public policy (Code, § 20-504), 'a contract concerning a lawful and useful business in partial restraint of trade and reasonably limited as to time and territory is not void.' Black v. Horowitz, 203 Ga. 294, 46 S.E.2d 346, 347. Unquestionably, under many rulings of this court, the time limitation of one year in this case is reasonable. Griffin v. Vandegriff, 205 Ga. 288, 295, 53 S.E.2d 345. Reasonableness as to territory depends not so much on the geographical size of the territory as on the reasonableness of the territorial restriction in view of the facts and circumstances of the case. Rakestraw v. Lanier, 104 Ga. 188, 195, 30 S.E. 735. '* * * as a matter of law, such a contract is to be upheld if the restraint imposed is not unreasonable, is founded on a valuable consideration, and is reasonably necessary to protect the interest of the party in whose favor it is imposed, and does not unduly prejudice the interests of the public.' 104 Ga. at page 194, 30 S.E. at page 738. The evidence showed that the plaintiff company did business in only 31 of the 34 named Georgia counties, and that it did no business in the South Carolina counties included in the territory in which the defendant was restricted from working and had no intention of doing so. The plaintiff company is engaged in the business of renting uniforms, wiping cloths, etc., to service stations, garages and similar...
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