Fullerton Lumber Co. v. Torborg

Albert Torborg (defendant), a longtime manager for Fullerton Lumber Co. (plaintiff), signed a 1946 employment contract barring him from working in a competing business within 15 miles of his Clintonville, Wisconsin lumber yard for 10 years after leaving. In 1953, Torborg quit to open his own competing lumber yard in the same city, and three Fullerton employees followed him there. Fullerton sued to enjoin Torborg under the restraint clause, but the trial court found the 10-year time restriction unreasonably long and not necessary to protect Fullerton's legitimate business interests, and dismissed the complaint entirely because the restraint's terms weren't written as divisible.