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Tom's Amusement Co. Inc. v. Total Vending Servs.

Employer could not bring a tortious interference claim against its employee who supplied confidential information to its competitor, since employee was not a stranger to the business relationship between the employer and its customers.

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The primary question on appeal is whether it constitutes tortious interference with contractual and business relations for one company to induce a competitor’s current employee to disclose confidential financial information and for that company further to solicit customers via the employee’s misrepresentations regarding the competitor’s solvency. We hold it does.

Tom’s Amusement Company “TAC” and Total Vending Services compete in placing coin-operated amusement games in various businesses in Atlanta. While employed by TAC as a route manager servicing games in Georgia, Alan Joseph secretly disclosed TAC’s financial information to Total Vending which had offered employment to Joseph and in concert with agents of Total Vending solicited a TAC customer to give its business to Total Vending. As part of this solicitation, Joseph misrepresented TAC’s financial status to the customer. Consequently, the customer AMF terminated its relationship with TAC at three locations and gave that business to Total Vending. After TAC fired Joseph in 1995 for breaching his duties to TAC, Total Vending hired him. Joseph then solicited other TAC customers, including CiCi’s Pizza locations.

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