MARIO P. COMERIO, Plaintiff, v. BEATRICE FOODS CO., d/b/a Imperial Oil and Grease Co., Defendant, 595 F. Supp. 918

Summary

When the former employee's employment was terminated, the written employment contract between the parties contained a restrictive covenant prohibiting him from taking competitive employment but provided that if he was unable to obtain non-competitive employment, the employer would either release him from the covenant or compensate him. The court granted the employer's motion for summary judgment only as to the former employee's claim for punitive damages. The court found that the employer's delay in choosing whether to release the former employee from the restrictive covenant or to compensate him was not an independent willful tort because the employer had no duty apart from the contract and the forum state's law did not allow punitive damages on a breach of contract claim. The court refused to dismiss the claim for breach of Missouri's service letter law because the former employee had complied with the law as it existed on the date of his request. An amendment to the statute did not ...