127 Conn. 149 | Conn. | 1940
Pursuant to the direction of this court in the case of LaFrance v. LaFrance, 122 Conn. 556, 191 Atl. 334, the Town Court of West Haven on April 20, 1937, rendered judgment enjoining Leo LaFrance, the defendant in that action and one of the three defendants here, against interfering with the sawdust business of Eugene LaFrance, the plaintiff in both actions, for five years from December 10, 1935, and from soliciting sawdust patronage during that period from anyone who was the plaintiff’s customer on or
The finding in the present case, which is not attacked upon this appeal, establishes these facts, and also among others these further facts. All three defendants had full knowledge of the litigation which eventuated in the injunction of April 20,1937. The defendants Leo and Ralph had obtained confidential information regarding the plaintiff’s customers throughout Connecticut during their employment by him. The temporary injunction referred to in the complaint remained in effect from December 20, 1935, until the issuance of the permanent injunction. During 1936 the defendant Ralph was employed in the defendant Leo’s sawdust business, and in the prosecution of it, utilizing his confidential information, solicited orders from and sold sawdust to customers of the plaintiff. Subsequent to April 20, 1937, all three defendants engaged in the sawdust business and participated in
The court’s denial of the defendants’ motion that certain issues of fact be tried to the jury is assigned as error. The defendants claim the right to have the question whether or not they conspired, and all issues of fact collateral thereto, so tried. The correctness of the court’s ruling depends upon the nature of the plaintiff’s cause of action alleged, as is made clear by the recent case of Berry v. Hartford National Bank & Trust Co., 125 Conn. 615, 618, 7 Atl. (2d) 847. In an action seeking both equitable relief and damages, as is there stated and illustrated by the cases referred to: “Where there is involved in a case a cause of action for damages properly cognizable at law, the fact that relief in equity in aid of or supplemental to it is also demanded will not destroy the right of either party to have the issues at law submitted to the jury. . . . On the other hand where the essential right asserted is equitable in its nature and damages are sought in lieu of equitable relief or as supplemental to it in order
The court properly denied the defendants’ motion to expunge certain allegations of the complaint, which though not strictly necessary to it, tended to state more fully the plaintiff’s claim. Bitello v. Lipson, 80 Conn. 497, 503, 69 Atl. 21) L. & E. Wertheimer, Inc. v. Wehle-Hartford Co., 126 Conn. 30, 36, 9 Atl. (2d)
The exclusion by the court during cross-examination of each of the plaintiff’s witnesses Kunofsky and Wolk, of the defendants’ question whether he was a customer of the plaintiff in 1935 is assigned as error. Since there is nothing in the record in either instance to indicate that this related to a subject within the scope of the direct examination, or was for any reason germane to proper cross-examination, the court’s ruling cannot be held erroneous. The court permitted
Error is also assigned in the court’s overruling of the defendants’ claims of law. One of these is that by reason of the contempt procedure available to the plaintiff under the Town Court’s injunction, relief in this case by injunction against conspiracy by the defendants to violate it, is not permissible. While it is the general policy of law that two actions shall not be brought where complete justice can be done in one, this is not a rule of unbending rigor. Farley-Harvey Co. v. Madden, 105 Conn. 679, 682, 136 Atl. 586; Dettenborn v. Hartford-National Bank & Trust Co., 121 Conn. 388, 393, 185 Atl. 82. Under the facts proven it may be that the defendants other than Leo could have been held guilty of contempt of court in aiding and abetting him in violating the injunction. 32 C. J. 489. However, a determination of their guilt would have involved a trial of the issue whether or not they
There is no error.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.