Two University of Wisconsin students have sued two dozen local bars, alleging the bars' agreement to end drink specials on weekends violates federal antitrust laws.
According to a report in the Chronicle of Higher Education, the bar owners said they were convinced by Wisconsin Chancellor John D. Wiley to end the drink specials.
The students claim this violates antitrust laws because the business owners agreed as a group to effectively raise prices, and quote the chancellor as saying "bars could be more profitable businesses if they didn't have to offer such deep discounts trying to outdo each other in lower prices."
The drive to end drink specials was part of a University of Wisconsin project to reduce binge drinking.
In the Chronicle article, Peter C. Carstensen, a Wisconsin law professor and antitrust expert, said the students have a case because business competitors who agree on issues like prices are violating antitrust laws.
Carstensen, however, said Wisconsin could easily end the drink specials if the City Council passed an ordinance banning them.
A Wisconsin administrator directing the anti-binge drinking project was quoted in the Chronicle article as saying Wisconsin had always supported an ordinance to ban drink specials and that the deal amongst the bar owners had not been negotiated through the University.
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