A Cincinnati man is hoping to cause some trouble for Wal-Mart, accusing the retailer in a new class-action lawsuit of fraudulently claiming that it’s selling its own line of craft beer.
Wal-Mart made a splash last summer with the release of its private-label Cat’s Away IPA, After Party Pale Ale, Red Flag Amber and ‘Round Midnight Belgian White. The beers are made under the Trouble Brewing brand at the Genessee Brewing Co. in Rochester, N.Y.
The beers have come under fire by craft beer purists who argue that they don’t fit the true definition of craft. The new lawsuit, filed Friday (Feb. 10) by Matthew Adam in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, makes the same claim.
"Defendant’s craft beer has never been a ‘craft beer,’ nor has it been produced by a craft brewery," the lawsuit says. "Rather, it is a wholesale fiction created by the defendant that was designed to deceive consumers into purchasing the craft beer at a higher, inflated price."
The lawsuit asks for an injunction ending Wal-Mart’s ability to advertise and label the beers as craft beer, along with an unnamed amount of compensatory and punitive damages.
To read the full lawsuit obtained by Courthouse News Service, which noted that Wal-Mart didn’t return a call for comment, click here.
Akron Beacon Journal | Tribune News Service
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