Jackson Jambalaya

 Note: Since the complaints are identical but for the plaintiffs, thus the plaintiffs and complaints will be referred to in the collective unless specified otherwise. 

Liquor store owners are mad as hell and they are not taking it anymore as they continue to suffer from the implosion of the ABC warehouse. Buckshots, Aloha Wine & Spirits, and Rosetti's Liquor Barrel sued Ruan Transport in Harrison County Circuit Court earlier this month.  Ruan Transport manages the ABC warehouse in Gluckstadt.  All three plaintiffs are Gulf Coast package stores.  

The Mississippi Department of Revenue awarded the warehouse contract to Ruan in 2023 after it scored the best among four competing proposals.  The company is located in Iowa.  The contract is for four years with two four-year renewals.  DOR pays Ruan $2.22 per case with the rate rising to $2.64 in the last year of the contract. 

Ruan Transport shut the warehouse down for a week in early January to take inventory.  With the warehouse closed, Ruan replaced the software and conveyor belt systems.  The software was not tested and did not communicate with ABC's MARS software.  Ruan replaced the conveyor system with a pick a pallet system.  The result was a total meltdown as shipping times skyrocketed from 48 hours to nearly a month as Ruan shipped less than 50% of cases ordered for a month, crippling casinos, restaurants, and package store owners alike.

The complaints accuse Ruan of incompetence and neglect: 

17. In early January 2026, the ABC warehouse underwent a planned shutdown for annual inventory. During this period, Ruan implemented a new software management system (warehouse management system, or ""WMS""). 18. The new software system implemented by Ruan was not compatible with the existing conveyor belt system used to load delivery trucks at the warehouse.

19. As a direct result of this incompatibility, three of the four conveyor belt lines at the warehouse were removed from service. The software contractor responsible for providing support for the conveyor belt system ceased providing those services.

20. Rather than having a functional contingency plan in place, Ruan reverted the warehouse to a dramatically slower manual ""pick and pallet"" system for loading trucks. This resulted in a massive and ongoing reduction in the warehouse's throughput capacity.

21. As of the February 17-18, 2026 legislative hearing, the warehouse had accumulated a backlog of approximately 199,000 unshipped cases of alcoholic beverages. As of March 1, 2026, that number was estimated to be in excess of 220,000 unshipped cases.

22. It is anticipated through legislative oversight testimony that the backlog would not be reduced by half until March 2026 at the earliest, and would not be fully resolved until May 2026.

The plaintiffs describe how they suffered because Ruan could not (allegedly) get its act together.  Ruan shipped product within 1-3 days of placing an order but "beginning in early January 2026",  the plaintiffs orders placed through the MARS ordering system were not fulfilled or were only partially fulfilled while delayed for several weeks.  

Ah, the MARS ordering system.  MARS is the ABC's software.  Ruan installed the Blue Yonder software at the warehouse without beta testing. It was discovered after it was too late that Blue Yonder could not communicate with MARS.  No communications means no orders are taken.  No orders taken means no orders shipped.  

The meltdown at the warehouse crippled liquor stores, restaurants, and casinos whether big or small. Mardi Gras should have been Christmas season for the Gulf Coast package stores but instead turned into a nightmare: 

25. Accordingly, store inventory was significantly diminished during seasonal peak times such as Mardi Gras, leaving partially empty shelves and a lack on the most commonly purchased retail items.

26. In February 2026, the ABC warehouse stopped accepting incoming product causing a complete lack of availability of staple retail items for the Plaintiff’s store.

The delays cost the plaintiffs revenue, profits, and customers as they often drove to Louisiana or Alabama to buy what was no longer available in Mississippi.  

The complaint charges Ruan with breach of contract, negligence, and unjust enrichment.  

Ruan stands accused of implementing a new warehouse software management system without ensuring it was compatible with the conveyor belt system, removing the conveyor belts without having a "functional replacement system", failing to have a contingency plan, and allowing the backlog to grow to over 200,000 cases before taking "adequate measures."  

The complaint alleges Ruan unjustly enriched itself ABC customers such as the plaintiffs paid for their orders through ABC.  ABC in turn paid Ruan.  The complaint alleges: 

A portion of the amounts paid by Plaintiff was remitted to Ruan as per-case fees under the Contract for warehouse operations and delivery services.

43. Ruan received the benefit of per-case fees attributable to Plaintiff’s orders but failed to deliver the product for which Plaintiff was charged, or delivered only a portion of the product ordered. Commissioner Graham acknowledged billing errors at the February 17, 2026 legislative hearing. Ruan has been enriched by its retention of fees for services it failed to perform.

The plaintiffs argue it is unjust for Ruan to keep their money while failing to deliver their orders.   

Numerous ABC customers have complained they paid for orders but ABC kept their money when the orders were not delivered.  

Buckshots, Aloha, and Rosetti's seek damages for lost revenue, lost profits, charges for undelivered orders, costs of mitigation, and harm to their business reputation as well as punitive damages and attorney's fees.  

Three different Circuit Court judges are assigned to the cases: 

Rosetti's: Judge Christopher Schmidt

Aloha: Judge Lisa Dodson

Buckshots: Judge Randi Mueller

Attorneys Michael Casano and Timothy Porter (Porter & Malouf) represent the plaintiffs.