
Town & Country House & Home Service, Inc. v. Newbery
Court of Appeals of New York
147 N.E.2d 724 (1958)
Relevant factsFree
T&C's (plaintiff) owner's wife built its customer base through painstaking cold-calling and personal sales visits, and former employees Newbery and associates (defendants), who worked for T&C for nearly three years without helping build that customer base, formed a competing company after leaving and built their new customer base exclusively by soliciting T&C's own hard-won customers.
IssueFree
Whether persons who were employed by a company may solicit that company's customers for a competing business after they have terminated their employment.
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