The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken Total Wine to federal court over an antitrust case, seeking court intervention to enforce a subpoena related to an ongoing investigation into Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits. The FTC filed a petition in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to force Total Wine to comply with a civil investigative demand (CID), which is an administrative subpoena that seeks documents and other information related to the antitrust probe.
According to the FTC, Total Wine has not fulfilled the CID requirements for over four months. The company has failed to search employee files for necessary documents and has not provided a justifiable reason for its non-compliance. The FTC argues that these actions have hindered and slowed down the ongoing investigation, leading to the decision to seek court intervention.
"A civil investigative demand issued by the FTC is not a voluntary request, it is a demand made by the federal government that companies must comply with," said Henry Liu, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition. Liu emphasized that failure to comply hinders the FTC's ability to protect consumers and businesses from anticompetitive practices.
The FTC has asked the court to require Total Wine to appear before the Court and justify its non-compliance with the CID. If the company fails to do so, the Commission seeks a court order compelling Total Wine to produce the specified documents and information within a 20-day period.
The CID issued to Total Wine is part of a broader FTC investigation focused on Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits LLC. The investigation aims to determine whether Southern Glazer's has engaged in discriminatory sales practices to retailers like Total Wine, in violation of the Robinson-Patman Act, or if it has employed other unfair methods of competition contrary to Section 5 of the FTC Act.
