The Pub Faces $1,750 in Fines

September 21, 2009 • By Megan Williams, The Breeze
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HARRISONBURG, Va. — After being charged in June with five alcohol-related violations, The Pub will not have to close its doors for any period of time, according to the Wednesday announcement by the Alcohol Beverage Control Board.

Robert O’Neal, chief administrative hearing officer for ABC, dismissed three of the more serious charges, upholding two, which will result in a $1,750 fine for The Pub or a 17-day suspension of its liquor license.

Bill Royer, co-owner of the popular bar located off Neff Avenue, said The Pub will pay the fine instead of closing down for two and a half weeks.

“It would cost me a whole lot more to close than it would to pay to the fine,” Royer said.

Royer also said that he was pleased with O’Neal’s decision to throw out charges that The Pub attempted to defraud ABC, that the establishment wasn’t financially responsible and that it did not meet the requirements to be considered a restaurant. These charges would have garnered much more severe consequences for the business.

O’Neal upheld the charges that The Pub had made a clerical error in an annual report submitted to the ABC Board, and that for one month it had not met its food-to-alcohol ratio, resulting in the suspension or the fine.

The charges were made based on the alleged findings of a flawed audit of The Pub’s records from Sept. 2006 to March 2009. Miscalculations and incorrect data led the auditors, both from ABC and the city of Harrisonburg, to file these charges.

Bartenders, owners and The Pub workers spoke at a June hearing in Staunton and attempted to explain the audit’s errors. Hearing officer O’Neal agreed with The Pub and said that significant errors in the audit process conducted by the city of Harrisonburg could not support the charges, in his written decision.

This dismissal of charges has come after recent charges against The Pub. Its liquor license was suspended for 10 days in January due to an employee drinking after hours.

Royer said that he is relieved by the decision made Wednesday. “All the major issues were dismissed and we feel good about it.”

Contact Megan Williams at willi3me@jmu.edu

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