The plaintiff in a new lawsuit against Wisconsin's minimum markup law has filed numerous complaints against competitors for violating that law.
The conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty said it's representing the Krist Oil Company in a Vilas County lawsuit that seeks to repeal the 1939 product pricing requirements.
Krist is based in Michigan, and it has numerous convenience stores in northern Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan. A report earlier this year from the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group said Krist filed 70-percent of the 24-hundred complaints in 2014 against gas stations for breaking the law -- which requires a nine-percent markup from wholesale prices, while letting stations match competitors with lower prices.
Institute lawyer Rick Esenberg says the law is based on an "antiquated economic theory." The state Justice Department says it's reviewing the lawsuit.
