Court dismisses contractor's claim of interference with business relationship

In Kozma v. Chelsea Lumber Co., the plaintiff, a licensed contractor sued several entities arguing that they had wrongfully destroyed his exclusive arrangement to erect garage kits manufactured by Chelsea.  The trial court summarily dismissed his claim several years ago, however, it was reinstated by the Court of Appeals.  On return to the lower court, the judge directed a verdict on all but Kozma's fraud count and the jury found against him on that claim.  He appealed.

The Court of Appeals concluded that the trial judge had not prejudiced Kozma by his rulings and that improper argument by the Defense attorney was not substantial enough to warrant overturning the verdict. The higher court also upheld the trial judge's directed verdict on some issues, finding that since one of the defendants was not aware of Kozma's exclusive arrangement with the lumber yard, he could not be guilty of intereference.