NEWS
Papers drop in lawsuit against local bar owners
Looking for a print version?
Simply choose ‘Print’ on your computer and a printer-friendly document will be generated.
Also by Joanna Salmen:
Related Stories:
- Minneapolis lawyers file lawsuit against bars, implicating UW (March 24, 2004)
- Two employees to be let go from chancellor's office (November 13, 2008)
- Bar owners respond to lawsuit (October 11, 2005)
- Judge dismisses drink special suit (April 8, 2005)
- Bar owners file for dismissal (February 22, 2005)
Share This:
by Joanna Salmen
Thursday, March 25, 2004
A lawsuit filed by Minneapolis lawyers Wednesday against all local tavern owners who have participated in a voluntary weekend drink-special ban expects to collect “tens of millions of dollars” and put some of the money back into the hands of students who have visited the targeted establishments since the ban began.
The ban began after the University of Wisconsin’s Policy, Alternatives, Community and Education, or PACE Project, recommended the creation of an ordinance to ban drink specials in downtown bars.
Instead of making the ban public policy, a group of bar owners decided to voluntarily ban weekend drink specials. These bar owners are now being sued for their actions.
The lawsuit states four main objectives: to break up the Madison Bar cartel, to return price competition to the business of selling alcoholic beverages in downtown Madison, to uncover the full duration, scope, nature of operation and economic impact of the cartel and to recover and return to the victims of the cartel, primarily UW students, the full measure of damages to which they are lawfully entitled.
The case alleges any talk of banning drink specials at one particular time is price fixing. It printed instances in which bar owners such as the owner of the Nitty Gritty, Marsh Shapiro, stated a group of bars would begin a ban on drink specials for the weekend.
The lawsuit also cites an instance in which UW Chancellor John Wiley stated the ban on specials may make the bars more profitable.
The lawsuit, filed in state court targets the 24 bars participating in the ban since it began in September 2002.
These establishments include: The Angelic Brewing Company, Brothers, Buffalo Wild Wings, Bull Feathers, City Bar, Club Amazon, Kollege Klub, Lava Lounge, The Church Key, Madhatters, the Nitty Gritty, Paul’s Club, The Plaza, the Red Shed, Spices, the State, State Street Brats, Stillwaters, the Vintage, Wando’s and the Irish Pub.
The Tavern League is also cited as a defendant.
At present, UW is not a defendant. However, Jim Lockhart, one of the prosecuting attorneys from the firm that filed the case, Lomman, Nelson, Cole and Stageberg, said that could change.
“We have not sued the university,” Lockhart said. “At least not yet.”
Lockhart and his team have collected class representatives for the case, a group of three individuals who have visited the targeted establishments since September 2002. The representatives are UW junior Brian Dougherty, UW law student Nick Eichenseer and Janesville resident Eric Stener. They will provide receipts from bar visits and will meet with lawyers to discuss the downtown bars and pricing.
The duration of the case, Lockhart said, depends upon a number of different variables and is hard to estimate.
Chris Kambach, a manager at the Lava Lounge, said he had not heard of the suit as of Wednesday afternoon. He said he did not know of any plans to discontinue the ban on drink specials on the weekends.
Dean Hetue, owner of the Plaza Tavern, said his tavern has never offered weekend drink specials, so he does not consider his establishment a member of the alleged cartel.
“I am not planning on contacting my lawyer,” Hetue said, adding that he is going to wait and see what unfolds before he pursues anything.
However, some bars are not as hopeful.
City Council President Mike Verveer said bar owners who he has been in contact with are “scared and frustrated as a whole,” and feel “burned.”
He said if anybody should be sued, it should be the university, not the bar owners.
“I think it is utterly and totally ludicrous,” Verveer said.
Verveer predicted a judge would throw out the suit as soon as it reached the courts. He maintained that the actions of the bar owners were in no way monopolistic or illegal.
If the weekend drink-special ban would have gone to the City Council and passed as an ordinance, like PACE requested, the ban would not be considered illegal because it would have been law. However, Verveer said he does not think the city should be involved in setting prices for taverns and has no such plans to do so.
Verveer also said he did not think the lawsuit would return money to bar patrons but rather just put an end to weekend drink specials.
Others, such as UW law professor and anti-trust expert Peter Carstensen, say the case is valid. He said if a group of Madison bars agreed to raise prices, they are lucky they are only getting sued civilly.
“People go to jail for doing that,” Carstensen said. “It is illegal for competitors to agree on what they are going to do, no matter how benign their alleged motives are.”
The lawsuit comes after a study conducted by PACE found that since the beginning of the weekend drink specials, disorderly conduct downtown increased by 38 percent on the weekends.
