Christopher Ridgeway, the fired Stryker Corporation sales rep we’ve written about who accused the company of making up a fake non-compete agreement, is suing his former employer for unfair trade practices, fraud, unjust enrichment and intentional interference with his business relations.
Ridgeway is the owner of Stone Surgical, LLC, which he runs out of his house in Metairie, Louisiana. He formed the company in 2009, while still employed with Stryker, to “engage in the sale of products in the medical field.”
Biomet Calls, Stryker Fires
He says Biomet Microfixation, LLC had approached him over the years to enter into a distributor relationship with him to distributed craniomaxillofacial and spinal implants.
The lawsuit alleges that when Stryker learned that he was having serious discussions with Biomet, the company fired him on September 10, 2013.
Ridgeway says Biomet is the “archrival and great competitor” of Stryker in the field of spinal and skull implants. He claims he was Stryker’s top salesman for those devices, generating more revenue than any other sales rep in his field.
Uncompleted Biomet Deal
After he was fired, he negotiated a distributorship agreement between himself, as Stone Surgical, LLC and Biomet to distribute skull and spine implants throughout Louisiana. The first deal was signed on September 23, 2013 with no terms for expiration of the contract.
Ridgeway says that Biomet submitted a compensation plan to him whereby Stone Surgical would receive an average of $1.75 million per year for the distribution of the skull implants and a second agreement where Stone Surgical would receive $2 million per year for the sale of spine implants. Both deals consisted of fixed payments plus a commission based on sales.
Stryker Strikes
He says the parties were on the verge of signing the second contract, “When Stryker struck.” Stryker filed a lawsuit in Michigan against Ridgeway and Biomet on September 30, 2013, claiming Ridgeway violated, among other things, his non-compete agreement. The company also asked for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to keep Ridgeway from competing with Stryker on Biomet’s behalf.
Ridgeway claims Stryker submitted a fake non-compete agreement to the court. He says Stryker frequently tried to get him to sign a non-compete agreement, but he always refused.
Without an enforceable non-compete agreement, Ridgeway says Stryker was “desperate” to stop him and “engaged in an extraordinarily deceptive act to torpedo the new business relationship between Biomet and Stone Surgical” and to “unfairly destroy the prospect” of competing with Stryker.
“Fabricated, Falsified and Fraudulent” Documents
Stryker, according to Ridgway, then served the “fabricated, falsified and fraudulent” document on Biomet, alleging that Ridgeway was in violation of the “invalid and fake non-compete” agreement. Stryker informed Biomet that it was suing Biomet for arranging for Ridgway to sell Biomet devices in competition against Stryker.
“Deceived by this fabricated, fraudulent non-compete agreement, ” Biomet immediately terminated the agreement with Stone Surgical. Ridgeway says the sole reason Biomet gave him for the termination was that the company believed a non-compete agreement existed between Ridgeway and Stryker and they didn’t want to be held liable for damages.
Stryker Amends Complaint
Ridgeway says that after getting caught making up the fake non-compete agreement, Stryker amended their complaint against him and Biomet to delete any reference to the “fabricated” non-compete agreement. Stryker also withdrew their request for a preliminary injunction after Biomet dumped Ridgeway.
Fabricating the non-compete agreement, claims Ridgeway, violates the Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices Act because hospitals, doctors and patients in Louisiana have now been deprived of the choice to select “superior” Biomet products.
Seeking Damages
Ridgeway says he has suffered the loss of revenue he would have received under the agreement with Biomet.
He also says Stryker committed fraud by misrepresenting to Biomet that a non-compete agreement existed between the company and Ridgeway.
Ridgeway claims he is entitled to recover damages against Stryker for unjust enrichment based on Stryker’s actions. “Stryker is unjustly enriched by all of the sales of medical devices that it is now able to make that otherwise would have been lost to customers selecting to purchase Biomet devices.” In the reverse, Stone Surgical has been “impoverished” by its commissions lost from sales that it would have made by selling Biomet devices.
Stryker’s conduct, according to Ridgeway, constituted tortious interference with a contract under the laws of Louisiana and Michigan.
He is asking for jury trial and damages to which he may be entitled. At age 35, he says he has a work life expectancy of another 30 years.
