California craft breweries are suing Gov. Gavin Newsom, alleging COVID-19 public health orders unjustly target small, craft beer makers operating across the state of California.
The California Craft Brewers Association and breweries statewide filed the lawsuit Thursday against the governor and California State Public Health Officer Sandra Shewry.
The suit alleges that state officials have unfairly denied beer manufacturers their equal protection rights by requiring them to serve a meal to operate a tasting room when others in the alcohol beverage manufacturing industry don’t have to do so.
They also claim the state’s 4,000 wine makers and winery tasting rooms have more generous reopening privileges than the state’s 1,050 craft breweries.
Craft breweries are required to provide a sit-down meal in order to reopen their outdoor tasting areas, but the same requirement is not imposed on wine manufacturers.
craft brewers say the split guidance creates an arbitrary and unjust distinction between wine manufacturers and beer manufactures.
“When it is time to begin the reopening of businesses in 2021, we need to ensure that a single industry is not arbitrarily divided based on unfounded assumptions,” said CCBA executive director, Tom McCormick in a statement. “We want to ensure that the craft brewing industry has the same privileges and the same pathway as other alcohol beverage manufacturers to reopen, re-employ and re-build next year.”
The suit alleges that wineries and breweries have identical manufacturing facilities that operate with the same “risk factors” as identified by the California Department of Public Health.
They say the sole difference between wineries and breweries is the product they produce: wine or beer.
“Both winery and brewery businesses are indistinguishable in their processes and privileges and should be assigned the same guidelines for reopening by the state,” the statement says.
Right now neither breweries nor wineries can open in the Bay Area or other parts of California amid current lockdown orders.
good for them!
Recall Newsome!
Could it be because Gavin knew some owns a winery and has a lot of friends in that industry? Hypocrite!
I hope they win there Lawsuit.Put these no good lying cheating money sucking Politicians in there place.
Newsome is a disgrace. Wake up California.
The brewery is suing Shewry.
It’s pure classism and favoritism from the limo liberals who run the state.
Newscum’s winery was given massive preferential treatment this entire time.
The courts are corrupt and will uphold unconstitutional behavior. There is no legal way to solve this.
Close bars that don’t serve food (which have less wine revenue by percentage than restaurants). Set curfews for after 10pm (allowing dinner and wine but not the nefarious beer and liquor night caps. Create loopholes for wineries but not breweries.
How many times does Newsom get to play is before we realize what he’s up to.
Good for them. I hope they win. I don’t understand why tasting rooms have to serve a meal to stay open. The virus will not attack if there’s food?
These arbitrary and capricious, ever-changing rules are what is wearing people out and increasing resistance to comply. If there was one set of logical rules that applied across the state and would not arbitrarily and randomly change whenever the guv had some bad pizza, maybe we’d get somewhere.
While the breweries are waiting for the lawsuit to work its way through the courts, may I suggest serving a plate of Saltines and Cheese in the tasting room. There’s the meal!
I believe it has to be a “substantial meal” to qualify.
I know that in the UK, they had to have a ruling that a scotch egg (egg covered in sausage meat and deep fried) was considered substantial enough.
I don’t know if this is true or not but I have a relative in Sonoma County that said she just made a reservation at Newsom’s Winery for nine people which she doesn’t intend to keep. So wine tasting is still open. How does that work?
No, it’s not true. Per the website, the winery is closed:
https://plumpjackwinery.com/visit-our-napa-vineyard/
While I can’t stand Newsom and his policies, I dislike disinformation even more. Please don’t engage in that – the truth is bad enough.
@Chukie’s Wife I wouldn’t put too much credit in what’s on the website. People just aren’t maintaining them much these days. Most places say to call, and if you call Plumpjack you might be able to schedule a visit. I fasted and visited four different Lab Corps on five occasions, even calling some to get the hours ahead of time. Even the messages on the voice mail gave the wrong hours. Even the list my doctor gave me was outdated and one of them was closed completely. Same with McCaulous. I went by three times, they were supposed to be open, but they weren’t. Then I went by when they were supposed to be closed and they were open.
I said I don’t know if it is true. Don’t get too righteous on me.
It’s about time!! Now maybe the rest of the small businesses will band together and sue the hell out of them! Go get em!
If Gavin and his friends owned breweries none of this would be happening.
I read all these comments about waking up and how “we” need to do something. So why doesn’t someone do something besides post about “we”. Why don’t you start the movement. It’s easy to say what “we” should do. Stand up and be the leader, or sit back and be quiet. Lighting up the internet Is not going to accomplish anything.
These politicians are so brazen they are doing it right in front of you and do not care. They think you’re stupid and they know you won’t do anything. They know you’re part of the Democratic sheep and will follow their lead regardless if it’s good or bad simply because the thought of supporting a republican style idea is unconscionable. Wake up. Think beyond party lines. Right and wrong has nothing to do with D or R
Plumpjack Winery is closed according to their website. I guess Gavin isn’t that dumb.
Plumpjack already skipped the line and got their PPP money way back when it started. They were open until the order took effect last Thursday. Bars and breweries have been getting the shaft since the beginning Gav is plenty dumb, he just made sure he took care of his first.
@miguel
Yep, yep 👍🏽
Close to 3mill of PPP funding: https://abc7news.com/plumpjack-management-group-llc-gov-newsom-winery-sba-releases-detailed-ppp-data-what-business-does-gavin-own/8618229/
I read all these comments about waking up and how “we” need to do something. So why doesn’t someone do something besides post about “we”. Why don’t you start the movement. It’s easy to say what “we” should do. Stand up and be the leader, or sit back and be quiet. Lighting up the internet Is not going to accomplish anything
https://recallgavin2020.com
I’ve never heard such sniveling in all my life!
Google “Artisan breweries in California” or whatever….
Choose your weapon and place an order online.
Done!
The law is being applied unfairly, favoring fermented grape alcoholics to fermented grain alcoholics. It isn’t about moaning, it’s about clear-as-day favoritism.
@ anon. I’m a beer guy. I don’t care if I never have another sip of wine. But even I have to admit, wine tasters tend be small parties behaving very reservedly, where as beer tasters are more sweaty mobs laughing and expectorating in as many strangers faces as possible. I agree with the plaintiffs, but let’s be honest: brewpub patrons are an epidemiological disaster.
@Rolaids go to winebars during peak hours, after you get a time machine, and you’ll see it was pretty much as bad.
Really the issue you point out is one of high capacity and popularity, isn’t it? If the winebars were popular enough they’d have the same issue. But that issue is very easily quelled by having a hard half or quarter capacity rule.
@Anon. Yeah you’re right… all my antiquated stereotypes about wine tasting aside, there is no rational basis for letting wineries stay open while closing breweries. I would probably be shocked if I actually witnessed a modern wine bar. You mean to tell me these kids are packing in shoulder to shoulder to drink WINE?? The world has truly left me behind…
Please use emergency room capacity stats and death rates from all cause from previous years as a prove. Nothing changed this year except we have ‘CASES’, masks and lockdowns. Not that it helped for anything, except it showed that most people are blind and does not think for themselves.
Next level of hysteria will be double mask mandate and swimming googles 😉 Have a happy holidays!!!
To defend Ricardoh, he did say “I don’t know if this is true or not. Though I also agree with Chuckie’s Wife, we should only say what we know to be fact which in turn will garner credibility.
well
i see their tactic working
division
stop the division
sure we would like a rep to step in
but this corrupt gov in this state has far reaching hands in the DA and boards and even councils
but the fact still remains …no infighting or they win
boost up each other and bounce information together to come up with solution
america is the greatest nation because we are free to help each other
we are all frustrated and agitated
this is their goal
work on the recall sign it
encourage changing the regime before its too late and we lose our freedom
The problem with the lawsuit is these craft breweries don’t have pockets deep enough to get the attention required to give this suit the legs that are needed to prevail in the courts.
And as far as the recall goes it doesn’t have a chance because people are way too lazy to fill out the papers required to get their vote in. This recall has been on the books for over a year now, and it failed because people are way to freak’in lazy to print out and send in their signatures. I’ve gone door to door to get people too sign the recall and have filed 60+ pages of signatures. (each page has 6-8 lines that can be signed) People need to get off their lazy @ss if they want this fool recalled. The problem is they aren’t hurting enough to become proactive. They have food and shelter for their family and that is all they care about. Get real!!! This idiot self righteous hypocrite doesn’t care about you or your family and his way is the only way. You get what you deserve, do something about it if you are sick and tired of this elitist commie idiot. If everyone took the time to send in one page of signatures this bafoon would be recalled and out of our pockets for good. Not even the Getty family can stop us if we pull and work together for a change. Get busy or shut up and obey the fool, who’s the fool? The people sitting on their hands complaining about the guy and doing nothing about it is the fool. WAKE UP!!!!!!
Merry Christmas.
Duck, quack…quack!!!
Agreed. We need less than 5% of Californians to sign the recall. That should be a slam dunk, but it’s not.
If only we could send out millions of recall forms “absentee ballot” style, harvest signatures at the homeless hotels etc.
Without the recall, Gavin will soon fill positions vacated by Harris and Becerra, and believe me, his picks will be worse than they were.
Sign the recall!
Recall Newsom locator. Type this in and then find Your county. There are 7 signing locations in CoCo. 4 locations in This immediate area.
Anything that Newsom touches turns to crap. Get the loser out of office now.
The recall effort is gaining steam so let’s not let off the gas pedal.