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.
James J. Malvaso, president and CEO of the Raymond Corporation, said the inconsistency in the Circuit Court’s ruling is somewhat disconcerting. 
“We obviously acted within our legal rights in setting up performance criteria for Minnesota Supply in light of their significant market share drop after they decided to take on a competing line,” said Malvaso. “It is quite disturbing then to have the court rule that our legal performance criteria were not enforceable.  We will continue to investigate and pursue other legal means to challenge the award.”
Malvaso also said this is another in a long line of examples of a litigation system gone astray. 
“Ethical, moral and legal actions seem to have little to do with the decisions coming out of our legal and jury systems especially in dealing with large corporations. The Raymond Corporation has always acted in the most ethical and legal fashions and will continue to do so,” he said.
“We will also continue our appeal to members of Congress to once and for all enact legal reform legislation as the current system is obviously broken and no longer serves the purpose that was originally intended.”
Malvaso says over the years, “Raymond has enjoyed substantial growth in revenues and profit over the last decade and is notably one of the most dominant suppliers of electric forklift trucks for the warehousing and distribution center markets.”
“Our aggressive investments in products, manufacturing facilities, and people are key to our track record and will continue to be key to our future.  We are fortunate to have an extremely dedicated dealer network in place today and our performance in the Minnesota territory has improved since the Minnesota Supply termination.”
For additional information about The Raymond Corporation or to locate a Raymond dealer, visit the company Web site at www.raymondcorp.com or call (800) 235-7200.