Legal Question in Business Law in Ohio

Manufacturers Rep Contract -- company refuses to pay commission

We are a manufacturer's representative with a contract dispute under Ohio law. Most manufacturer�s rep contracts include clauses about House accounts, which are customers that are the exclusive responsibility of the manufacturer. This basically means that any business with that customer is handled by the manufacturer, and that the rep has no official contact with them and would receive no commission for any sale to them.

We just found out that last year one of the largest customers that we have been working with (for several years) at the request of a certain manufacturer signed an exclusive contract with that manufacturer. Over the next several months, the manufacturer continued to ask our help with that customer without telling us that they considered them a house account. The customer recently started placing large orders, which the manufacturer now says that we have no right to commission on, even though they never notified us that it was a house account.

Our contract specifies our territory, lists no exceptions (house accounts), and states any change in the contract would have to be done in writing with the approval of both the manufacturer and us. The manufacturer never told us, either orally or in writing, that they


Asked on 7/07/08, 3:41 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Julio C. Alejandro Julio C. Alejandro Serrano Attorney at Law

Re: Manufacturers Rep Contract -- company refuses to pay commission

It seems to me that your rights under the contract were violated.

Read more
Answered on 7/07/08, 5:06 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Business Law questions and answers in Ohio