A federal judge dismissed an American Indian tribe's lawsuit on October 1, 2012 that blamed beer makers and nearby stores for chronic alcoholism on an impoverished South Dakota reservation, saying the case belonged in state court but gave a subtle nod to the tribe's claims. The lawsuit was filed by the Oglala Sioux Tribe, which governs the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where alcohol is banned. Four beer stores named in the suit sold the equivalent of 4.3 million 12-ounce cans last year even though they're in Whiteclay, a Nebraska town with about a dozen residents on the reservation's border. The judge dismissed the case without prejudice, meaning the tribe could take its claims to state court. The tribe filed the lawsuit in February against the four Whiteclay beer stores, as well as regional distributors and four manufacturers: Anheuser-Busch, Inc., Molson Coors Brewing Company, MillerCoors LLC and Pabst Brewing Company, Inc. The lawsuit alleges that the stores and beer makers allowed alcohol sales to Pine Ridge residents knowing they would smuggle it onto the reservation to drink or resell. The beer makers supplied the stores with "volumes of beer far in excess of an amount that could be sold in compliance with the laws of the state of Nebraska" and the tribe, the lawsuit alleged.

Anheuser-Busch, Inc. announced plans to invest more than $1 billion in its breweries and other facilities nationwide that will support the growth of its brands and reinforce its commitment to local U.S. communities where it operates. These capital expenditures include resources spent or committed in 2011 toward projects to further modernize brewing processes, upgrade systems to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and install equipment for new products and innovations, among other items, with additional allocations being made for projects through 2014. In addition to its breweries, company was investing in its agricultural operations and other facilities. For example, earlier 2011 the company announced a $40 million investment in its Longhorn Glass facility in Houston. The project involved a re-bricking of the very heart of the plant - its furnace - and expanded production capacity with the introduction of one of the fastest glass-forming machines in the world.

A woman suing Anheuser-Busch Inc. for gender discrimination cannot be compelled to arbitrate her claims. Francine I. Katz, who worked for Anheuser-Busch for 20 years before leaving in 2008, alleges the company paid her 60% less than her male predecessor and that the company's corporate culture encourages a "locker room" and "frat party atmosphere" that created barriers to women employees' advancement. Anheuser-Busch argued that two separate arbitration agreements barred Katz from taking her claims to a jury. St. Louis Circuit Judge Mark Neill ruled against the brewery last August, and on Tuesday, the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District affirmed that neither agreement could be enforced against Katz. The contractual language defeated A-B's argument that Katz must arbitrate her claims because her legal claims involve conduct that occurred before the MAAC terminated. The appellate court pointed out that another provision of the MAAC specifies that the obligation to arbitrate survives the termination of an employee. The distinction between the two provisions shows the parties intended the MAAC to expire upon a change in control of the company.