The Star newspaper has printed a lengthy article on the
success of local Frankfort, Illinois businessman Dick Todd and
his company, To-am Equipment Company, Inc. in obtaining a $1.5
million verdict against Mitsubishi. Todd and his company had been
a Mitsubishi forklift dealer since 1985. In 1994, as part of a
restructuring by Mitsubishi to place its dealerships with substantially
larger dealers than To-Am, Mitsubishi terminated To-Am as its
local dealer. Notwithstanding the dealership contract gave Mitsubishi
the right to terminate the dealership "at will," To-Am
was able to convince the jury that the termination was a wrongful
termination under the Illinois Franchise Act. Gary Leydig, the
attorney who represented Mr. Todd and To-Am, is quoted at length
in the article on the legal aspects of the case. The article concludes
with a quote from Mr. Leydig that "[t]his case sends a very
clear message to companies like Mitsubishi that their dealers
are protected. And it lets dealers know they have more rights
than possibly they realized." Click
here to read the Seventh Circuit's opinion affirming this
judgment.
