Nail polish indeed. On Wednesday Raskopf won a New York state supreme court temporary restraining order that essentially shuts down a new nail products company, MBA Beauty Inc., that competes directly with the Sally Hansen brand owned by his client, Coty Inc. The “Confetti” and “10″ brands at issue in the TRO hearing were developed by two former Sally Hansen executives who signed non-compete deals with Coty after Coty acquired Sally Hansen in December 2007.
According to Coty’s complaint, the two executives, Harvey Alstodt and Bruce Kowalsky, earned big money from Coty when it bought Sally Hansen. Alstodt made $6 million in the acquisition, and was thereafter paid $450,000 in a non-compete deal. Kowalsky joined Coty as a sales VP, a job in which he earns $250,000 a year. Nevertheless, Coty asserts, the two secretly started a company to compete directly with Sally Hansen.
