Pure Power Boot Camp, Inc. v. Warrior Fitness Boot Camp, LLC

In 2006, Lauren Brenner (plaintiff) prepared to franchise her successful military-themed gym, Pure Power Boot Camp, Inc. (Pure Power) (plaintiff). Brenner asked Pure Power’s instructors to sign employment agreements that prohibited disclosing Pure Power’s confidential information. The agreements did not specify that lost profits could be recovered for breach. In July 2007, Pure Power instructors Ruben Belliard and Alexander Fell (defendants) decided to open their own military-themed gym, Warrior Fitness Boot Camp, LLC (Warrior Fitness) (defendant). Belliard stole Pure Power’s business plan, start-up manual, and operations manual and shared them with Fell and Jennifer Lee (defendant), who used the materials to create Warrior Fitness’s business documents. Belliard also downloaded Pure Power’s customer list. Belliard and Fell left Pure Power in early 2008 and opened Warrior Fitness shortly thereafter. In the interim, Pure Power employee Elizabeth Lorenzi and client Cheryl Dumas accessed and printed Fell’s personal emails from the company computer using Fell’s stored password. Lorenzi and Dumas showed the emails to Brenner. Brenner and Pure Power sued Belliard, Fell, Lee, and Warrior Fitness, asserting multiple claims, including breach of contract and breach of the duty of loyalty. Pure Power sought damages including lost profits and disgorgement of Warrior Fitness’s profits from 2008 through 2010. Belliard and Fell filed counterclaims, including a claim that Brenner, Lorenzi, and Dumas violated the Stored Communications Act by accessing Fell’s personal emails without his permission.