Atlantic Pbs Inc Case Study

Atlantic PBS, Inc., sued John Long, a former corporate officer, for breaching his fiduciary duties. Atlantic alleged that Long diverted business to another company he owned while still employed at Atlantic. Atlantic sold and installed insulation for commercial and residential buildings. In 1987, while employed for Atlantic, Long became a 50 percent stockholder in another construction company, R.J. Loughton, Inc. Long left Atlantic later in 1987, but before he left, Long tried to persuade several Atlantic employees to join him at R.J. He also used his contacts at Atlantic to divert business to his new company. As a result of losing its customers, Atlantic suffered financial losses. Atlantic claimed that Long breached his fiduciary duty to loyalty to the company. Do you agree? Why or why not? [Long v. Atlantic PBS, Inc., 681 A.2d 249 (1996)]

In this case study, I strongly agree that John Long breached the partnership contract because he made advantages of Atlantic PBS, Inc. in order to unjust enrichment and damaged Atlantic finance. This essay will present 2 key points that plaintiff should notice before suing John Long.

First of all, it is vitally important that Long worked for another company which he owned whereas still being involved in Atlantic. It means that Long did not concentrate on the plaintiff company operation. Moreover, he had a 50 percent stockholder in another business, called R.J. Loughton, Inc., after that he left Atlantic purposely. According to the partnership agreement, partners have to control the capital contribution and management responsibility while cooperating with each other but in this case Long did not contribute and support his partners. (Neville. A., n.d)

Further and more importantly, before leaving Atlantic, Long exerted to convince Atlantic staff to work for his company. The partnership agreement said that all members take responsibility of loyalty, good faith and fair dealings; however, Long took plaintiff’s