J.C. Penney intentionally induced Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia to breach certain terms of its exclusive licensing and promotion agreement with Macy’s when it inked a deal to sell Stewart’s branded line of household wares in its own stores, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Oing (See Profile) held in a decision released Monday.
The 63-page decision in Macy’s Inc. v. J.C. Penney Corporation, 652861/2012, settles the one remaining claim in a bitter business dispute between the two retail giants and Stewart’s merchandising empire that did little to help boost the image of a floundering J.C. Penney, whose former CEO was fired last April amid poor sales and rancorous litigation.
