When you cover Pennsylvania beer you have to cover the good, bad and ugly, right? Unfortunately it can’t be all brewery openings and new releases. Which brings us to today’s news. As first reported by Good Beer Hunting, Tired Hands Brewing Company currently finds themselves involved in a lawsuit with a trio of their investors.
The lawsuit, led by Shaun Hill of Hill Farmstead Brewery, claims that Tired Hands withheld earnings from an investment made prior to the brewery opening in 2012. The suit involves Hill along with his breweries sales rep Mike Ingrassia and creative director Alex Peltz. The claim being made is that an initial investment of $5,000 made by the three investors each for a 0.5% equity stake in the brewing company was not paid back in an agreed upon timeline. It goes on to state that when Tired Hands founders Jean Broillet and Julie Foster offered to repay the investment in 2017, it was for “far below fair market value” of $7,500.
In addition to these claims, the suit also points out Foster individually, who has a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and is Tired Hands General Counsel for “gross negligence, recklessness, willful misconduct, or knowing violation of law” as a result of her legal education and background.
It is being claimed that that Broillet and Foster committed a bevy of unlawful acts, including federal securities law fraud, unjust enrichment, foregoing fiduciary duties, and breaches of Pennsylvania and Vermont laws.
The folks who first reported this news reached out to Tired Hands, and in an email, Foster said the case “is being dismissed with prejudice,” however they note that as of now there is no indication of a dismissal on the court’s docket.
You can see the lawsuit filed here. We will update with more as it is released.
