On December 12, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
sued Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits (Southern)—the
largest wholesale distributor of wine and spirits in the
country—in the U.S. District Court for the Central District
of California under the Robinson-Patman Act (RPA), potentially
breathing new enforcement life into the often unenforced
law.
The RPA, 15 U.S.C. § 13, is a New Deal-era statute
prohibiting sellers of commodity products from charging different
prices to competing purchasers of those commodities. A violation
occurs when a business sells the same goods at roughly the same
time at two different prices to two different competing customers,
with the price difference creating a competitive injury.
Discriminating in promotional allowances—such as marketing
support—can also constitute a violation. Buyers can also be
liable along with the seller if the buyer knowingly induces and
receives discriminatory pricing or promotional allowances.
