Craft Beer Build, LLC v. Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (Lawyers Weekly No. 09-022-17)
1 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK, ss. SUPERIOR COURT CIVIL ACTION NO. 16-809-D ________________________ CRAFT BEER GUILD, LLC d/b/a CRAFT BREWERS GUILD, Plaintiff, vs. ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES CONTROL COMMISSION Defendant. ________________________ MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR JUDGMENT ON THE PLEADINGS The plaintiff Craft Beer Guild, LLC d/b/a/ Craft Brewers Guild (“Craft”) is appealing an adjudicatory decision, dated February 12, 2016 (“Decision”) of the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (“ABCC” or “Commission”) under G. L. c. 30A, § 14. After the ABCC filed the Administrative Record (A.R.) and a Supplemental Administrative Record (S.A.R.) on September 22, 2016, Craft filed its “Plaintiff Craft Beer Guild, LLC d/b/a/ Craft Brewers Guild’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings” (“Motion”) on June 29, 2017, pursuant to Superior Court Standing Order 1-96 as amended.1 After a hearing on the Motion on September 12, 2017, at which the Court heard from both parties, the Court DENIES THE MOTION. 1 Craft has not helped its cause by filing a brief with what appears to be less than 12-point font, in violation of Superior Court Rule 9A(a)(5). As predicted in the Court’s endorsement of March 20, 2017, this added verbiage has only resulted in diverting focus and attention from Craft’s strongest arguments. 2 BACKGROUND Craft is a wholesaler of alcoholic beverages licensed under G.L. c. 138, § 18. It distributes about 200 craft beer brands to, among others, retailers such as restaurants and bars licensed under G.L. c. 138, § 12 for consumption of alcohol. In October 2014, one of the owners of a Crafts-distributed brand tweated allegations that its brand had been removed from the tap at Boston location because Massachusetts suppliers and wholesalers were making unlawful payments to retail licensees in exchange for those retailers carrying Craft brands. The Commission began an investigation, which lasted about seven months and resulted in a Violation Report. The Violation Report led to administrative charges against Craft for violation of the price discrimination law (G.L. c. 138, § 25A(a)) and of 204 Code Mass. Regs. § 2.04(1), quoted below. The ABCC had not previously brought such a proceeding against any licensee under § 2.08. During the proceedings, Craft stipulated to the facts in the Violation Report. After adjudicatory hearings, the ABCC found that Craft violated 204 CMR 2.08 and G.L. c. 138, § 25A. Based on the stipulated facts, the Commission found that in 2013 and 2014, Craft negotiated and implemented a series of schemes between itself, numerous retail licensees and certain third-party management companies that managed the retail licensees. Craft negotiated payment arrangements with the third-party management companies in exchange for tap lines committed to Craft brands at retail licensees that those companies managed. Generally, the payments were either […]