Manufacturers Rep Contract in Ohio -- 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 were working on having this company be a house account, never announced that they were a house account, and only admitted that they were after we told them that someone in the company let it slip that they were, and that we were concerned about our commission.

Since they never notified us, and continuously asked us, as their representatives, to interact with this company, shouldn't we have right to our commission? Do we have any legal recourse?

[annjd]

You certainly do seem to have a right to the commission.

You may have to threaten suit or even actually file to get them to the table.

Do they offer any legal or other explanation?



If need be get World law's lawyers or others to intervene and contact the company. It does seem you are due some money.