Wilkinson v. Powe

Facts

Jay D. Wilkinson (Plaintiff) sued Powe and Powe’s company, Shamrock Creamery (Defendants) for wrongfully procuring a breach of Plaintiff’s contract with milk farmers. Plaintiff had established two routes for hauling milk from farmers to two creameries, Shamrock and Pontiac. Later, Plaintiff and the farmers memorialized their arrangement by a written agreement. Shortly after the execution of the agreement, Powe informed Plaintiff that he wanted to take over one of the routes and, in exchange, offered Plaintiff the trade-in value of his truck and a position at Shamrock. Plaintiff refused. Subsequently, Powe sent a letter to the farmers doing business with Plaintiff that Shamrock would no longer accept milk if it was delivered by Plaintiff. Eventually, Plaintiff was forced to abandon his milk routes. Afterwards, Shamrock hauled the milk of nearly all farmers formerly under contract with Plaintiff. A jury found for Plaintiff and awarded $4,000 in damages. Thereafter, a new trial was granted and the trial judge entered a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, holding “[t]o find for the plaintiff is a sympathetic attempt to give legal security to one, who, in a precarious position acted unwisely.”