Bos Material Handling, Inc. v. Crown Controls Corp.

Plaintiff Bos Material Handling, Inc., filed causes of action against defendant Crown Controls Corporation and others after Crown refused to renew its year-to-year dealer agreement with Bos. Crown petitioned the court to stay the trial proceedings and to compel arbitration pursuant to an arbitration clause in the dealer agreement. The petition was denied on the ground that the causes of action stated in the Bos complaint were not within the arbitration provision of the dealer agreement. Crown appeals from the order denying arbitration. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1294, subd. (a).) We reverse and remand with instructions.

On May 24, 1972, Crown and Bos entered into a written dealer agreement under which Bos was to be an authorized dealer for Crown equipment, i.e., “forklift trucks. ” The dealer agreement ran for one year and could be renewed from year to year. The last one-year extension signed by both parties provided that the agreement was to expire on February 28, 1981. In a letter dated February 3, 1981, Crown notified Bos that it would not again renew the agreement but would defer expiration until March 31, 1981, if Bos so desired. Bos responded by a letter stating that the…