Describing itself as doing business in the “Better Beer” part of the beer market, Boston Beer Corporation – the maker of Sam Adams beers – filed a lawsuit yesterday against competitors Anchor Brewing Company and Anchor Brewers & Distillers – the maker of Anchor Steam beers – as well as Judd Hausner. (For this post, I will refer to the companies by their trade names as “Sam Adams” and “Anchor Steam.”) Sam Adams states that Hausner is a former employee who resigned effective September 22, 2011 to join Anchor Steam.

According to Sam Adams’ Verified Complaint (which is available in pdf format below), Hausner executed an Employment Agreement when he joined Sam Adams at the end of 2006. The Agreement contains non-disclosure and non-compete provisions. Interestingly, the one-year non-compete provision is limited to distributors of “beer or ale having a wholesale price within twenty-five percent (25%) of the wholesale price of any of [Sam Adams’] products.” This appears to be an attempt by Sam Adams to limit the scope of the non-compete in a price-dominated market.