Facts

Plaintiff BGC Inc., which was owned by Laura Lambros, was a distributor for Caramente LLC. BGC Inc. became a distributor in September 2009. Caramente terminated the distributorship in November 2011, at which point BGC was no longer able to distribute Caramente's products. After BGC sued Caramente, Caramente, canceled its "active" status with the California Secretary of State and began distributing its products under a new limited liability company Rinnovo LLC.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
BGC filed suit claiming that Caramente had breached the distributor agreement and had interfered with third party contracts. Lambros claimed that Caramente defamed her when it made two false statements about her. Both plaintiffs also contended that Rinnovo was the "successor in interest" to Caramente, and therefore, responsible for its debts.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Rinnovo claimed that it was not the successor in interest to Caramente. Rinnovo further claimed that Caramente did not breach the distributor agreement, did not interfere with any contracts, and did not defame Lambros.

Settlement Discussions

Defendant offered nothing to settle.

Damages

BGC suffered economic damages as a result of the breach of contract. Lambros suffered non-economic damages as a result of the defamation.

Result

The court determined that Rinnovo was the successor in interest to Caramente, and therefore, liable for its debts in the first phase of this two-phase trial. The jury then found for plaintiffs on the remainder of the claims. Plaintiffs were awarded $496,277, which included $466,276 for breach of contract, $10,000 for defamation, and $20,000 in punitive damages.

Other Information

FILING DATE: July 23, 2012.

Deliberation

three hours

Poll

12-0

Length

four days