Joshua D. Aubuchon is Senior Counsel in our
Tallahassee office
In Connecticut Fine Wine and Spirits, LLC v. Seagull,
916 F. 3d 160 (2d Cir. 2019), the court affirmed dismissal of an
antitrust challenge to provisions of Connecticut's Liquor
Control Act. A liquor retailer alleged that the state's minimum
retail price provisions, "post-and-hold" provisions and
price discrimination/volume discount provisions inhibited
meaningful price competition at the retail level. The court ruled
that none of the provisions were preempted, determining the
following:
- The provision requiring liquor
retailers to sell to customers at or above a statutorily defined
minimum price was not preempted by Section 1 of the Sherman Act as
it compelled only vertical pricing arrangements among private
actors.
