A federal judge rules that Zimmer Holdings must face a jury trial over charges that it ran a deliberate campaign to raid Stryker’s sales operations in Las Vegas and Arizona. Zimmer (NYSE:ZMH) can’t shake a lawsuit filed by Stryker (NYSE:SYK) alleging a scheme to poach sales reps from Stryker’s operations in Las Vegas and Arizona, a federal judge ruled yesterday. Stryker sued Zimmer and a spate of former employees in April 2011, accusing its arch-rival of devising a scheme to “create an instantly successful spine organization, with all of the hard-earned customer relationships and highly trained sales management and employees enjoyed by Stryker Spine,” according to court documents.
