MONROE — In a decision hailed by the founders of what is arguably Wisconsin’s top craft brewery, a Green County judge last week dismissed an investor lawsuit against New Glarus Brewing Co.

On Oct. 6, Green County Circuit Judge Faun Marie Phillipson dismissed an investor lawsuit claiming New Glarus Brewing Co. CEO Deb Carey and the brewery underpaid them when they sold a portion of their shares in the company in 2019.

“While there is still a fight ahead, a fight that I am more than prepared for, we can all rest a little easier at New Glarus,” said company founder Deb Carey in a statement released after the decision was handed down. “I am looking forward to a time when my entire focus can once again be on making world class beer for our friends and neighbors here in Wisconsin.”

The plaintiffs included Karin Eichhoff, Steven Speer, and Roderick Runyan. Phillipson dismissed the lawsuit’s claims, ruling that plaintiffs in the case willingly accepted the company’s offer, which was based on a discount of the brewery’s 2017 employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) valuation. Among other claims, Eichoff and Runyon contended the valuation was not properly revealed to them prior to the sale; and that the offer was well below fair market value.

Phillipson, though, essentially ruled the company was under no obligation to explain how it arrived at its per-share offer. According to the lawsuit, New Glarus Brewing’s net income has historically been between $15 million and $20 million annually.

At the extreme end of the legal spectrum, the relief sought by the plaintiffs could have included an order to sell or dissolve the company. 

“Today I feel proud and vindicated,” said Carey.

Carey, her husband Dan, Speer and Eichhoff’s late husband Dierk were all friends living in Colorado in the early 1990s when they first conceived the idea for New Glarus Brewing.

The brewery’s most famous creation, Spotted Cow, is a farmhouse ale first brewed in 1997 and is a staple in bars and liquor stores throughout the state. New Glarus, ranked as the nation’s 12th largest craft brewer, is only distributed in Wisconsin.