Ex Parte Terex USA, LLC (in Re: Cowin Equipment Company, Inc. v. Terex USA, LLC)

Summary

The Court denied Terex's petition for a writ of mandamus seeking enforcement of an outbound forum-selection clause and dismissal of Cowin's Alabama action. It held that the Alabama Heavy Equipment Dealer Act gives an aggrieved dealer the right to sue in Alabama notwithstanding contrary dealer-agreement terms, and that the Act's antiwaiver and incorporation provisions invalidate an outbound clause that would foreclose that right. The Court also declined to read the Heavy Equipment Dealer Act in pari materia with the Motor Vehicle Franchise Act to infer that the omission of express venue language made the clause enforceable.