Granny's Cookies is a bakery located in a small town in Nebraska. However, Granny's has a strong Internet presence and ships cookies throughout the United States. Granny's recipes for its cookies are a trade secret. The employees at the Nebraska store who need to know the recipes to bake the cookies are aware of the recipe. The employees have signed a nondisclosure agreement. Jim Bradford, on of Granny's bakers, just took a job with Chippers, a cookie company located in San Diego, California. Chippers also has a strong Internet presence. S uppose that before he left Jim went into Granny's mailing list, which had been compiled from orders filled for people around the country. Jim changed the e-mail and mailing addresses so that the list was no longer accurate. Jim did not keep a copy of the original list for himself. Which of the following is true?
A) Granny's would have a basis for recovery against Jim.
B) Without a covenant not to compete, there is little that Granny's can do to stop Jim.
C) Granny's would have an action against Chippers.
D) Both b and c

Question

Granny's Cookies is a bakery located in a small town in Nebraska. However, Granny's has a strong Internet presence and ships cookies throughout the United States. Granny's recipes for its cookies are a trade secret. The employees at the Nebraska store who need to know the recipes to bake the cookies are aware of the recipe. The employees have signed a nondisclosure agreement. Jim Bradford, on of Granny's bakers, just took a job with Chippers, a cookie company located in San Diego, California. Chippers also has a strong Internet presence. S uppose that before he left Jim went into Granny's mailing list, which had been compiled from orders filled for people around the country. Jim changed the e-mail and mailing addresses so that the list was no longer accurate. Jim did not keep a copy of the original list for himself. Which of the following is true?
A) Granny's would have a basis for recovery against Jim.
B) Without a covenant not to compete, there is little that Granny's can do to stop Jim.
C) Granny's would have an action against Chippers.
D) Both b and c

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Jim's actions of altering Granny's mailing list would likely be considered a violation of his nondisclosure agreement and his duty of loyalty to Granny's. Granny's would have a basis for recovery against Jim for any damages caused by his actions. However, there is no mention of a covenant not to compete, so option B is not applicable. As for option C, unless there is evidence that Chippers knew or should have known about Jim's actions, it is unlikely that Granny's would have an action against Chippers.

Granny's Cookies Is a Bakery Located in a Small Town