[unpublished teaching materials])
Background Facts:
This case is an action by the Zeeco Corp. against Rhumoore Products. Plaintiff Zeeco is a producer of microwavable frozen food products that are sold to restaurants, clubs, nursing homes, and other large-volume prepared food users. Late in 1987, sales representatives of its principal regional competitor, Rhumoore Products, allegedly began to spread stories that Zeeco was employing food processing and packing laborers who had various health problems, including potentially communicable diseases. Since then, Zeeco's profits have been in steady decline, and the company is on the brink of bankruptcy. Presently, Zeeco is suing Rhumoore in state court on various tort claims. Defendant Rhumoore denies that its salespersons engaged in any tortious conduct and, moreover, contests any causal connection between such reports and the slide in Zeeco's profits. You have been retained to represent Rhumoore.
Issue:
The exhibit shown below has been produced to you as part of Zeeco's pretrial
disclosure of potential trial exhibits. Note that Zeeco's total profits in each
time period are diagrammatically represented by the vertical distance between the
two curves on the diagram, i.e., the amount by which revenues for each period exceed
the associated costs. Assuming that this exhibit accurately reflects
the plaintiff's underlying accounting data, does the diagram support the plaintiff's
case? It shows a decline in profits starting when the rumors occurred, does it not?
Check the
Answer
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