Specialized Bicycle Components was recently hit with a lawsuit filed by Bell Sports which claimed that the company engaged in "unfair and unlawful" business practices.
The September 9, 2011 claim alleges that Specialized attempted to force dealers not to sell Giro brand bicycling shoes. Bell Sports claims that Specialized threatened to withhold inventory bicycling shoes, and that some retailers were told that they would not receive their manufacturing rebates or their year-end purchase volume incentives if they sold Giro cycling shoes.
This unlawful restraint has and will, according to the complaint, "substantially prevent Giro cycling shoes from competing with Specialized's cycling shoes".
For all of the down and dirty details on this lawsuit click over to BicycleRetailer's article here.