The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is refusing to let a plaintiff business slip out of an arbitration decision, rejecting its $40 million breach-of-contract claim against the makers of WD-40, the popular household lubricant packaged in blue and yellow aerosol cans.
The background to the court’s recent decision in IQ Products v. WD-40 is as follows. WD-40 produces a lubricant concentrate and develops specifications for their products but uses independent contractors to manufacture its WD-40-branded products. In 1992, IQ Products began serving as a contract packager for WD-40 products.
