Walgreen Co. v. Sara Creek Property Co. case brief

Walgreen Co. v. Sara Creek Property Co. case brief summary
966 F.2d 273 (1992)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Defendants, landlord and competitor, appealed an order of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, which granted a permanent injunction enforcing an exclusivity clause in plaintiff tenant's lease of shopping center space from the landlord. The landlord and competitor argued that the tenant had an adequate remedy in damages for its breach of the exclusivity clause.

CASE FACTS
The anchor tenant in a landlord's shopping center was going out of business and the landlord sought to lease the space to a competitor of plaintiff's, in violation of the exclusivity clause in plaintiff's lease. Tenant brought a diversity action for breach of contract against landlord and competitor.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY
The trial court, holding that the tenant's damages remedy was inadequate, issued a permanent injunction precluding the landlord from leasing space in the shopping center to the competitor during the 10 years remaining on tenant's lease term. Landlord and competitor appealed, arguing that the tenant had an adequate remedy in damages.

DISCUSSION

• The court engaged in an extended discussion of the costs and benefits that must be weighed in deciding whether to grant an injunction, and determined that the trial court had engaged in a proper cost-benefit analysis. 
• The injunction was within the bounds of permissible choice under the circumstances.

CONCLUSION
The court affirmed the judgment of the trial court issuing a permanent injunction preventing the landlord from leasing space in its shopping center to the tenant's competitor for the remainder of the tenant's lease term.


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