Groseth International, Inc., and Clifford Groseth, Plaintiffs and Appellants. v. Tenneco, Inc., and J.i. Case…

Summary

The court affirmed summary judgment for IHC on the fiduciary-duty and emotional-distress claims, but reversed summary judgment on the alleged franchise-agreement breach, commercial impracticability, and statutory franchise-law claims. It also reversed summary judgment for Case/Tenneco on successor-liability, statutory, contract-interference, emotional-distress, and defamation claims, while affirming judgment on the fiduciary-duty claim. The court held that the agreement did not permit IHC to discontinue all agricultural product lines without liability, that factual disputes existed concerning impracticability and statutory provocation, and that Case/Tenneco’s assumed obligations created jury questions. The separate opinion attributed to SABERS, Justice, clarified that the ruling concerned only the propriety of summary judgment and did not direct judgment for Groseth.