Source: https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/468-s-2d-905-629654782
Timestamp: 2019-10-15 15:53:18
Document Index: 143454016

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4']

468 S.E.2d 905 (Va. 1996), 951144, Sims Wholesale Co., Inc. v. Brown-Forman Corp. - Virginia - Case Law - VLEX 629654782
468 S.E.2d 905 (Va. 1996), 951144, Sims Wholesale Co., Inc. v. Brown-Forman Corp.
Docket Nº: 951144, 951142.
Citation: 468 S.E.2d 905, 251 Va. 398
Opinion Judge: [14] The opinion of the court was delivered by: Compton
Party Name: SIMS WHOLESALE COMPANY, INC., et al. v. BROWN-FORMAN CORPORATION. VIRGINIA ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL BOARD v. BROWN-FORMAN CORPORATION.
Attorney: [7] For: Sims Wholesale Company, Inc., et al. v. Brown-Forman Corporation. Record No. 951144:
468 S.E.2d 905 (Va. 1996)
251 Va. 398
Nos. 951144, 951142.
C. Torrence Armstrong (Charles M. Sims; McGuire, Woods, Battle & Boothe, on brief), Alexandria, for appellee.
[251 Va. 398] Present: CARRICO, C.J., COMPTON, STEPHENSON, and KEENAN, JJ., POFF and WHITING, Senior Justices, and COCHRAN, Retired Justice.
[251 Va. 400] COMPTON, Justice.
We are dealing with Virginia's Wine Franchise Act (the Act), Code §§ 4.1-400 through -418 (Repl.Vol.1993), a part of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act. This controversy arose in September 1989. At that time, the Act was codified in §§ 4-118.42 through -118.61 (Supp.1989). The Act's provisions pertinent to this appeal are the same in both versions. Thus, for clarity we shall refer to the statutes in effect at the time of the May 1995 decision from which this appeal was taken, that is, the version found in the 1993 Replacement Volume of the Code.
The Act is to be "liberally construed and applied to promote its underlying purposes and policies." Code § 4.1-400. One such purpose and policy is to "promote the interests of the parties [251 Va. 401] and the public in fair business relations between wine wholesalers and wineries, and in the continuation of wine wholesalerships on a fair basis." Id. The Act defines "winery" to include any corporation which enters into an agreement with any Virginia wholesale wine licensee and which "manufactures or sells any wine products, whether licensed in the Commonwealth or not." Code § 4.1-401.
Other stated purposes and policies included in the Act are to "preserve and protect the existing three-tier system for the distribution of wine," Code § 4.1-400(2); to "prohibit unfair treatment of wine wholesalers by wineries" and to "define certain rights and remedies of wineries in regard to cancellation of franchise agreements with wholesalers," id. at (3); and, to "establish conditions for creation and continuation of all wholesale wine distributorships" consistent with all applicable laws, id. at (4).
The focus of this appeal is upon a winery's attempted cancellations unilaterally of agreements with certain Virginia wine wholesalers. As pertinent, the Act provides that "no winery shall unilaterally amend, cancel, terminate or refuse to continue to renew any agreement" unless the winery has given the required statutory notice and unless "good cause" exists for such cancellation or termination. Code § 4.1-406.
The Act further provides, "Good cause shall include, but is not limited to" certain enumerated circumstances. Id. Among the circumstances is revocation of the wholesaler's license to do business in the Commonwealth; bankruptcy or receivership of the wholesaler; assignment for the benefit of creditors or similar disposition of the wholesaler's
assets; and a wholesaler's failure to comply, without reasonable justification, with any written, material requirement imposed by the winery. Id.
The Act also provides, "Good cause shall not include the sale or purchase of a winery." Id. In addition, the Act provides that, except for "discontinuance of a brand or for good cause as provided in § 4.1-406, the purchaser of a winery shall become obligated to all of the terms and conditions of the selling winery's agreements with wholesalers in effect on the date of purchase." Code § 4.1-405(A).
And, if a winery accomplishes termination or cancellation of an agreement without good cause, the Act provides a procedure for the wholesaler to receive from the winery reasonable compensation for the value of the agreement. Code § 4.1-409(A).
[251 Va. 402] This case has been litigated upon a stipulation of facts. Appellee Brown-Forman Corporation (the winery), with principal offices in Louisville, Kentucky, manufactures and sells wine products. Prior to September 27, 1989, the winery supplied its brands of wines to certain Virginia wholesalers for distribution in designated territories pursuant to written agreements. In the agreements, the parties expressly acknowledged the contracts were subject to the Act.
The winery, exercising its business judgment, determined that its brands could be more effectively marketed by fewer wholesalers over broader geographic areas. The winery's experience had been...