From The Register Guard:
Fast-growing Hop Valley Brewing Co. is being sued in Lane County Circuit Court by Eugene-based Bigfoot Beverages, with Bigfoot claiming it is owed $5.5 million by Hop Valley because the beer maker is trying to switch from Bigfoot to a different distributor, Portland-based Columbia Distributing.
Bigfoot claims it is suffering that amount in economic damages as a result of Hop Valley’s attempted exit.
The lawsuit revolves around an arcane Oregon law that sets out how and when a beer maker can drop a beer distributor that it previously had signed up with and what penalties it must pay. The law spells out one penalty, but Hop Valley’s contract with Bigfoot spells out a different and apparently lesser penalty.
Hop Valley claims that under its contract with Bigfoot, it can cease using Bigfoot by paying a set dollar amount based on how much profit Bigfoot made in the previous 12 months selling Hop Valley beverages.
Bigfoot argues it is due more.
It says Hop Valley doesn’t have “good cause” to want out of the distribution contract. So under Oregon’s beer distribution agreement termination law, Bigfoot is entitled to “the fair market value of any and all assets, including ancillary businesses of the wholesaler (Bigfoot) used in distributing the supplier’s (Hop Valley’s) products.”
.
0 comments (click to read or post):
Post a Comment
Please leave a comment...I do moderate each comment so it may not appear immediately...and please be nice! You can also comment using Disqus (below) or even comment directly on Facebook (bottom).