Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits shared a statement on May 12 about the dismissal of a Missouri lawsuit brought against the company and the spirits brand Jägermeister by Breakthru Beverage.
Breakthru — which went by the name Major Brands at the time — filed the lawsuit in 2018. The company alleged that Jägermeister’s move to Southern Glazer’s for distribution within the state violated a Missouri franchise law. Though initially the jury ruled in favor of Breakthru, a recent appeal overturned the ruling, leaving Southern Glazer’s and Jägermeister in the clear.
“We are very satisfied with the appellate court’s decision and the subsequent dismissal of the case,” Chief Legal and Compliance Officer for Southern Glazer’s, Alan Greenspan, said in a statement. “It validates what we’ve said from day one — that Jägermeister didn’t have a franchise relationship with Major Brands and that our contract with them was appropriate and legal.”
Breakthru Beverage Group, formerly known as Major Brands, alleged that Jägermeister entered a franchise agreement with the family-owned distributor when it began distributing the spirit in the 1970s, even though there was no written contract between the companies.
The beverage distributor argued that Jägermeister’s move to Southern Glazer’s was an example of wrongful termination, claiming that the herbaceous spirits brand couldn’t move on to a different distribution partner unless it had “good cause” to terminate the contract.
According to The Spirits Business in 2018, Major Brands’ CEO, Sue McCollum, had harsh words for the large distributor. McCollum took over Major Brands after her husband passed away in 2012.
“Unfortunately, some of the largest companies in this industry believe they can intimidate me,” McCollum expressed. “They keep picking fights without cause in order to undermine the three-tier system. I thought they would have learned from previous lawsuits I won’t back down protecting my husband’s legacy and the jobs of more than 600 people who make up the family in major brands’ family business.”
An initial ruling, according to The Spirits Business, found Mast-Jägermeister guilty of wrongful termination, and the jury awarded Major Brands (Breakthru Beverage) $11.75 million in damages.
Southern Glazers and Jägermeister took the verdict to the U.S. Court of Appeals in the Eighth Circuit, and the jury ruled in favor of Jägermeister. Breakthru ended the lawsuit, and Jägermeister did not have to pay the $11.75 million in damages.
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