Oakland County Circuit Judge Michael Warren awarded Stan Dickson Jr.'s Trowbridge entities more than $2 million in damages from Dickson's former employee, famed restaurateur Matt Prentice, in a judgment issued Monday.
According to Nathan Skid of Crain's Detroit Business:
Warren also made clear, in a colorfully written ruling, that Prentice is not to compete against Trowbridge restaurants or attempt to recruit employees from Trowbridge for a span of five years, and ordered the case closed.
Judge Warren wrote:
At stake in this case is whether a sophisticated business owner can negotiate and sign a clear and unambiguous agreement (in which he agrees its terms are reasonable) and purposefully breach it without consequence? Because the answer is 'no,' the Court renders the judgment in favor of the Plaintiffs," Warren wrote his findings.
Dickson filed a lawsuit in July of last year claiming Prentice failed to comply with a noncompete agreement he signed in 2009 after Dickson took control of Matt Prentice Restaurant Group assets and hired Prentice to operate them.
