Gateway Media v. Mullen Advertising
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Gateway allegedly paid hundreds of thousands of dollars of kickbacks to a senior vice president of Mullen in order to receive outdoor advertising contracts placed by Mullen on behalf of RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company. Following an investigation by its outside accountants, Mullen fired its employee and terminated Gateway's advertising contracts. After discovery and dispositive motions had been completed, Gateway's counsel withdrew, and Mr. Steele was retained to try the one surviving claim for unfair trade practices. The Mecklenburg County jury awarded Gateway $1,258,695, which the trial court trebled. This judgment was unanimously affirmed by the North Carolina Court of Appeals (678 SE2d 671 (N.C. App. 2009)). On July 8, 2009, Mullen satisfied the judgment with a payment of $4,488,871.18.
Precision Components v. C.W. Bearing USA
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Precision Components, CW Bearing's exclusive distributor for much of the Southeastern United States, sued for breach of the distribution agreement, among other claims, when C.W. Bearing terminated its distribution agreement "for cause". The jury affirmed C.W. Bearing's "for cause" termination, thus limiting damages to commissions earned for ninety days after the termination. The judgment was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in an unpublished, per curiam opinion filed July 9, 2008 (286 Fed. Appx. 91 (4th Cir. 2008)).
Kimberly-Clark v. Progressive Motorsports and PPC Racing
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Kimberly Clark sued PPC Racing and others for breach of contract and tortious interference with contract when Progressive Motorsports refused to honor the option year of a sponsorship contract for its leading NASCAR Busch Series team driven by Jeff Green and moved the race car team to PPC Racing and new sponsor Nestle. In a 2002 trial, the jury awarded Kimberly-Clark $61,093 compensatory damages against Progressive Motorsports and $1,580,000 punitive damages against PPC Racing. United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, Civil Action No. 5:99cv185-McK.
Collegiate Distributing v. Old Well Water and William I. Belk
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Old Well Water and William I. Belk preemptively filed a declaratory judgment lawsuit against Collegiate Distributing in Mecklenburg County after Collegiate Distributing threatened to file a lawsuit for substantial compensatory damages, punitive damages and treble damages and attorney's fees for unfair trade practices in Wake County. The Mecklenburg County jury awarded Collegiate Distributing and its principal $1 nominal damages, and the court declined to award any attorney's fees. The North Carolina Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the resulting judgment. (Unpublished Opinion)
United Laboratories v. Kuykendall and Share Corp.
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United Laboratories sued Kuykendall for breach of a covenant not to compete and Share, Kuykendall's new employer, for tortious interference with contract and unfair trade practices. The Buncombe County jury awarded $11,700 compensatory damages against Kuykendall and $100,000 punitive damages against Share and the trial judge awarded $250,000 attorney fees against Share pursuant to the unfair trade practice statute. In a case of first impression, the North Carolina Supreme Court approved the award of punitive damages and attorney fees, rather than limiting the recovery to treble the compensatory damages available under the unfair trade practice statute. (437 SE2d 374 (NC 1993).
