Robert G. Beneke & Co., Inc. v. Cole

ROBERTSON, Justice.

Robert G. Beneke & Co. sued for liquidated damages for breach of a restrictive covenant in an employment contract executed by Beneke and Bobby Ray Cole, appellee. After a nonjury trial, the court found that Cole had violated the restrictive covenant, but declined to award liquidated damages because the contractual provision therefor constitutes a penalty. Beneke appeals and contends that the trial court’s finding that the contract contained a penalty provision rather than a liquidated damages provision is erroneous as a matter of law and, alternatively, is contrary to the…