Soft drink heirs take on Coca-Cola

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court last month alleges Coca-Cola never really had the right to buy one-third of Barq's owned by Jessie Robinson, son of Jasper Robinson, the illegitimate son of Barq's founder Edward Charles Edmond Barq Sr., in 1995 because he never agreed to the sale despite signed contracts to the contrary, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported Sunday.

The suit seeks to throw out an agreement Jesse Robinson signed in 1971 giving his portion of Barq's to his sisters.

"We are aware of the suit and believe it is totally without merit," Coca-Cola spokesman Kel Villarrubia said.

The genesis of the suit goes back to about 1890 when Barq created Barq Brothers Bottling Co. in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

He later moved the operation to Biloxi, Miss., where he fathered Jasper Robinson out of wedlock, The Times-Picayune said.

When Jasper Robinson grew up he started a Barq's production facility in New Orleans with Barq's permission.

In 1934, Barq gave Robinson the right to use the name to sell root beer in Louisiana while Barq maintained the exclusive rights to operate in Mississippi.

When Jasper Robinson died, his estate was divided between Robinson's wife and his three children, including son Jesse Robinson.

Jesse Robinson, ousted from the company by his sisters in 1971, sold his one-third share to them when he left and also sold his planned inheritance before he died in 1996.

That's the basis of the lawsuit, filed by Jesse Robinson's three children, which claims under Louisiana law an inheritance cannot be sold, which makes Jesse's sale of his third interest null and void, The Times-Picayune said.

The suit asks for one-third interest in the "revenues generated and produced" by the acquisition of Barq's by Coca-Cola.

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