KIEFER-STEWART CO. v. JOSEPH E. SEAGRAM & SONS, INC. ET AL., 340 U.S. 211

Summary

Petitioner drug company, which did wholesale liquor business, brought an action against respondent liquor companies under the Sherman Antitrust Act (Act), 15 U.S.C.S. §§ 1, 15. The complaint alleged that respondents had agreed or conspired to sell liquor only to wholesalers who would resell at prices fixed by respondents. The trial court entered judgment in favor of petitioner, but the court of appeals reversed. On certiorari review, the United States Supreme Court reviewed the record and not only concluded that the agreement to fix maximum resale prices violated the Act, but also that the evidence was sufficient to support the jury's finding that respondents had conspired to fix maximum resale prices, even though there was other testimony that price policies were arrived at independently. The Court also held that petitioner's alleged part in the conspiracy provided respondents with no defense, common ownership and control of respondents did not prevent them from conspiring, and formal...