Toppling Goliath Sues Thew Employee....

[daryl]

http://www.kcrg.com/content/news/Top-Io ... 28771.html

Seems like TG wants to act like a corporation and enforce their non-compete clause.

The employee signed it, and TG might win....but the employee will be able to win unemployment benefits and extended benefits suit based upon TG's overly stringent non compete clause.

I have seen this happen locally on multiple occasions.

At the end of the day, TG might be able to get breach of contract.....but to assert that Thew is a "legitimate rival business" will be hard to prove.

Given Thew's very limited distribution, the number of taps that Thew displaced TG is minuscule.

I suspect there may be a personal ax to grind here.

[andrewmaixner]

I guess that I'll no longer be buying TG products then. I am philosophically opposed to restrictive non-competes and frivolous lawsuits. "how to make good beer" isn't a trade secret any more than "how to write good code" or "how to build a house," and if he isn't using their exact recipes, there's no justification.

[Schwerkraftbrauer]

I will buy the same amount of TG products that I purchased before this article came out, which is none seems highly overpriced for what it is compared to other similar products.

[tony b]

After my recent visit there and being totally underwhelmed, this is just the icing on the cake for me to blow them off completely! Too many other good beers around to give theses guys any more of my business!

[daryl]

DISMISSED!
From the KCRG Website:

Court records say on Monday, September 24, the case between Toppling Goliath, Inc. vs. Thew Brewing Company, LLC and Chris Flenker was dismissed.

Thew, which opened earlier this year, and Flenker were facing an injunction filed in court two months ago from Toppling Goliath, a Decorah-based brewer that used to employ Flenker until 2017.

The claims dismissed said Flenker broke a non-compete agreement when he started at Thew.

Documents say Flenker allegedly agreed not to work for a rival business within 150 miles of Decorah for two years after leaving the company. The claims dropped also alleged Thew nabbed trade secrets by employing Flenker.

KCRG-TV9 has reached out to both sides of the case and will update this story with any statement either side gives us.

[tony b]

Hope it's true! But, it doesn't change my opinion of TG - they are butt munches in my book!

[MikeB]

Hope it's true! But, it doesn't change my opinion of TG - they are butt munches in my book!

Can’t remember the last time I heard someone called a butt munch![emoji23] That being said, great news, though maybe Thew should wait a bit before they release Afternoon Delight or Louisville Late Breakfast Stout![emoji14]


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[karl]

Yep. I'm still boycotting TG. They're still acting like assholes. And, their beer isn't really all that good, IMO.

Besides, I like Pulpit Rock and many other places better.

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[daryl]

Another non-compete, this time it is among two of the bigger boys...Sam Adams and Anchor Steam.

https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news ... loyee.html

[carrisr]

This one is just as ridiculous. They even want to be refunded for "training costs".

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[tony b]

This one is just as ridiculous. They even want to be refunded for "training costs".

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Agree. This won't go far in the court system.

[twiggy2164]

This one is just as ridiculous. They even want to be refunded for "training costs".

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Agree. This won't go far in the court system.

It was in 2011, never heard what actually/if anything happened.


Tattoo Travis

[daryl]

Good point, did not notice the date in URL.