House of Seagram, Inc. v. M.C.F., Inc.

The plaintiff appeals from a judgment of dismissal after the trial court sustained a demurrer to plaintiff’s complaint without leave to amend. The trial court also denied plaintiff’s application for a preliminary injunction.

*775 The plaintiff brought this action to enjoin the defendant from "wilfully and knowingly selling Seagram’s brands of distilled spirits at below the fair trade prices set by Seagram for its products. The plaintiff’s fair trade prices were established pursuant to these provisions of the Business and Professions Code:

The trial court sustained the defendant’s demurrer without leave to amend on the stated ground that “the complaint states a purported cause of action which is unconstitutional under the Constitution of the State of California and under the Constitution of the United States of America.”

We have examined the complaint as set out in the clerk’s transcript. It clearly states a cause of action. We deem it unnecessary to extend this opinion by a recital of each and *776 every allegation of the complaint, since it is apparent that the trial court based its ruling primarily on its view of the constitutionality of the statutes here involved.

The…