La Plata, MD – This sort of thing is becoming far too commonplace for members of the Charles County Board of License Commissioners [Liquor Board]. At the board’s monthly meeting Thursday, Jan. 12, they encountered yet another business who hired a new employee without proper certification to work in the liquor industry. And they got burned.
Vandana A. Patel, license holder for Waldorf Beer & Wine LLC, trading as Berry Liquors on Berry Road in Waldorf, will lose a day of business and have to pay a fine as a result of the transgression.
Master Cpl. Judith Thompson told the board the violation occurred Sept. 9, 2016 when a cadet working alcohol enforcement went into the establishment and grabbed a six pack of “Not Your Father’s Root Beer” from the cooler and took it to the counter where the clerk, Monique Patel, rang up the order and never asked for an identification.
“When I made contact with the clerk, he informed me he had only been working in the establishment for two weeks,” Thompson noted. “He said he had only been in the country for three months. He did say it was his first job selling alcoholic beverages.”
Attorney David Martinez asked if there had been previous compliance checks at the establishment and Thompson said Berry Liquors had passed three compliance checks in 2010, 2012 and 2014 since opening six years ago.
Martinez stressed to the board that this was the first offense for the business.
Vandana Patel said the clerk is her nephew and that usually he had someone working with him in the store. She said he was scheduled to receive alcohol management training, but hadn’t taken the course before the date of the violation. She said the other employee who was normally with the clerk had a doctor’s appointment that morning.
“I was confident in his ability to manage the store for a few hours,” she said. She said he was reminded on a daily basis to check IDs.
“He knew the policy, but he didn’t follow it,” Assistant County Attorney Matthew Clagett stated.
Patel said her business does about $2,500 daily in alcohol sales and that since the incident occurred, her nephew had received proper certification.
“I always want to take into consideration the number of violations a business has had in the past and whether or not policies and procedures were in place,” said Board Member Guy Black. “But in this case, she knew the manager was gone and she still let him work there, without training, by himself.”
Black recommended a $750 fine for the business, a $100 fine for the clerk and one day of closure with two days held in abeyance for three years, a suggestion approved by the board.
Liquor Board Chair Pamela Smith told Patel her business would close Jan. 17 for one full day.
Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com