Oppressed Stockholders - Confidentiality
The plaintiff in this case was a 1/3 equal stockholder in the defendant corporation. Plaintiff was terminated and filed an oppressed stockholder action even though he never relinquished his shares to the defendants in accordance with the stockholder agreement. The defendant contended the plaintiff breached his non-compete and confidentiality agreements.
The New Jersey Court of Appeals dismissed both suits and agreed with the trial judge that the defendant's termination was made as a good faith business decision, and the plaintiff did not violate the confidentiality agreement because the defendant's customers were publically known. Since the defendant's customers were not a trade secret, the non-compete agreement was unenforceable.
