Kiefer-stewart Co. v. Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc. et al. (340 U.S. 211)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 2, 1951 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 340 U.S. 211 · 71 S. Ct. 259
- Decided
- January 2, 1951
- Term
- October Term 1950
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Black
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Black delivered the opinion of the Court. The petitioner, Kiefer-Stewart Company, is an Indiana drug concern which does a wholesale liquor business. Respondents, Seagram and Calvert corporations, are affiliated companies that sell liquor in interstate commerce to Indiana wholesalers. Petitioner brought this action in a federal district court for treble damages under the Sherman Act. 15 U. S. C. §§ 1, 15. The complaint charged that respondents had agreed or conspired to sell liquor only to those Indiana wholesalers who would resell at prices fixed by Seagram and Calvert, and that this agreement deprived petitioner of a continuing supply of liquor to its great damage. On the trial, evidence was introduced tending to show that respondents had fixed maximum prices above which the wholesalers could not resell. The jury returned a verdict for petitioner and damages were awarded. The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed. 182 F. 2d 228. It held that an agreement among respondents to fix maximum resale prices did not violate the Sherman Act because such prices promoted rather than restrained competition. It also held the evidence insufficient to show that respondents had acted in concert. Doubt as to the correctness of the decision on questions important in antitrust litigation prompted us to grant certiorari. 340 U. S. 863. The Court of Appeals erred in…
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