Minnesota Supply Company v. The Raymond Corporation.

This three week long jury trial arose out of the termination of Gary Leydig's client, a forklift dealership, by the manufacturer. The case was brought under a little used Minnesota statute which protects heavy and utility equipment dealers from their overreaching manufacturers.  The jury found that the dealer had in fact been wrongfully terminated and returned a verdict in June of 2003 in favor of the client in the amount of $14,076,784 - - to the penny the amount of lost profits Gary Leydig had argued was due to his client.  Concluding that a portion of that verdict contained an erroneous calculation of “pre-judgment interest”, the district court judge reduced the amount of the verdict and entered judgment in favor of the dealer in the amount of $12,864,117.54.  In March of 2004, the trial judge entered a separate judgment in favor of Minnesota Supply for an additional $750,000 to cover its attorneys' fees and expenses. Click here to read that order. The manufacturer appealed and, on December 28, 2006, the United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment on the wrongful termination claim in its entirety.  Click here to see the brief filed by Minnesota Supply on appeal and here to read the Opinion of the 8th Circuit.