Decker, Berta and Co., Ltd. v. Berta

Plaintiff, Decker, Berta & Company (the Company), an accounting firm, sued to prevent defendant, Raymond Berta, a former partner of the Company, from violating a restrictive covenant not to compete with plaintiff. The trial court granted a preliminary injunction enforcing the restrictive covenant. Defendant appeals and we affirm.

I. Facts

After Berta graduated from college in 1976, he was introduced to Charles R. Decker by Richard Belletini, owner of a chain of grocery stores and a client of Decker’s at the time. (Berta had known Belletini since 1967 and would eventually marry his daughter.)…