Court rules in Raymond dealer case

GREENE – After an eight-year court battle with a former dealer, the Raymond Corporation was successful in reversing two of three counts previously levied against it, but still faces a $12M penalty.

On Dec. 28, the United States Circuit Court of Appeals concluded a decision regarding a wrongful termination claim against the Raymond Corporation by one of its former dealers, the Minnesota Supply Company.

The supply company and Raymond began a dealership agreement in 1947. The agreement stated Minnesota Supply would act as a dealership for lift trucks/fork lifts manufactured by Raymond.

The supply company, located in Eden Prairie, Minn., was under the dealership agreement including various other states and sold only lift trucks manufactured by Raymond until 1989, when MN Supply also began selling lift trucks manufactured by Caterpillar.

The judgment entered by the District Court states the jury verdict for MN Supply is reversed on MN Supply’s first and second claims, and affirmed on its third claim – thus reversing the decision in favor of Raymond on two of three counts.

The court ruled that the Raymond Corporation acted responsibly and legally when modifying the dealer agreement with the supply company; included was performance criteria after Minnesota Supply entered an agreement with Caterpillar to distribute products directly competing with Raymond’s product line. 

The court also ruled the Raymond Corporation did not have the right to enforce the performance criteria leading to the ultimate termination of Minnesota Supply as its dealer in a defined territory.  As a consequence, the court upheld the jury’s damage award in the amount of $12,729,767.