How Operators Can Deal with Injustices from Liquor, Health and Law Enforcement Authorities

We all know what it’s like to get a ticket or a fine for something that we believe we didn’t deserve. I know several bar and restaurant operators who have received fines from liquor, health and law enforcement authorities for questionable violations.

If this hasn’t happened to you yet, just know that it’s only a matter of time before it does. Since this is inevitable, it’s vital to have a strategy in place for your next run-in, because if they catch you off guard and you say or do something foolish, you might make a bad situation even worse for you and your establishment.

Four Key Things to Consider

Here are four things you need to remind yourself of when you’re being accused of wrong-doing by local authorities.

1.) Understand the Psychology Behind the Situation, Listen and Wait Your Turn to Speak on the Situation

It's highly beneficial that you, as an operator, try to understand the person that is accusing you of a violation(s) and delay your response before you start defending yourself. You never know what’s going on in their day or life, which might be impacting how they approach you about the matter. Yes, sometimes the “mean ones” that are constantly accusing others of wrong-doing are actually doing so because they feel accused of wrong doing by someone in their lives, or they have other stresses they're dealing with.

You just need to pause and remember that the person standing in front of you is probably confronting a lot of operators and businesses (not just you) – and perhaps even getting into some arguments with folks – all day long.

Remember that you do not gain anything by being ANOTHER voice that is condemning, arguing and raising your voice to them and being unprofessional.

Here's a simple but important phrase that can help you the next time you get accused of a violation or violations from a local authority: “Maybe you’re right about this.”

Of course, it’s important to say the words “Maybe” in that phrase because you never want to admit guilt in conversation with a local authority. They could be 100 percent wrong. But what that phrase does is remove any further need for the authority to explain themselves and, often times, they will lower their guard.

Once their guard is down, it’s your turn to speak. If appropriate, try to pick their brain on exactly what went wrong, then explain your method on how you were taught to do things, and ask them how you can do it better.

It’s during THIS conversation where you try to build rapport, find things in common and try to get on their good side. You might even be able to talk down the violation so its becomes a warning instead of a more formal infringement. But it’s always important to follow this process.

The timing of when you speak is important. If the accuser is in an “accusing” state. they are not going to respond to any attempts to build rapport, nor will they truly listen to your reasoning for why you think think the violation is wrong or a mistake. They’ll just think you’re sucking up to have the charge ignored.

However, if you disarm them verbally and then give them the feeling of power before you speak, using the suggested phrase, you increase the chances that you’ll get to speak to the person underneath the law enforcement persona, and that’s when you can use your people skills to diffuse the situation.

By understanding the psychology behind the authority or accuser, speaking the proper words, and waiting for the correct time to speak, you can handle the situation much more effectively.

2.) Compare the Cost of Fighting the Violation vs. Paying It and Moving On

Don’t fight expensive battles just “for the principle.” That’s a fool’s justification for the trouble it creates after a fight breaks out. An operator friend of mine received a $2,000 ticket for an unfair liquor violation. He did nothing wrong. The inspector was just in a bad mood that day, and he decided to nail my friend because, as the saying goes, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But because my friend is very stubborn, he decided to lawyer-up and fight this thing in court “just for the principle.”

Lawyers are not cheap, as I’m sure you know. I have paid thousands of dollars for legal counsel for things that were nowhere as time consuming as this, so I’m sure the bill was significant. Let’s just say legal fees were $10,000+ for argument’s sake. Then there was also the personal time that this operator spent, meeting with his lawyers, providing evidence and then going to court.

If my friend’s time is worth $300 an hour and he’s spending 10 hours thinking and working on this case, that’s $3,000 gone. A $2,000 ticket seems like a bargain compared to $10,000+ in legal fees and the valuable lost time. Plus, he was just a miserable person the whole time he was dealing with this thing, and I bet it probably impacted his personal life, too.

To add insult to injury, he ultimately lost the court case. The entire situation was a complete waste of time and money. And yes, I know it’s disappointing when these things happen, but you have to weigh the pros and cons of fighting these things. Sometimes, it’s better just to pay the fine and move on with your business and life.

3.) Understand That All Authorities Know Each Other to Some Extent

This is critical to remember. Even in big cities, there are only a small group of people that work in these authority-type positions and you have to assume that they ALL know each other. Chain reactions against your interests can happen if you get in trouble with any one authoritative entity.

If you tick off the police because there are disturbances outside of your bar or restaurant every night, it’s not hard for them to call their friends in the fire department, the health authority or any other entity that grants you a license to be in business, making your life very difficult (yes, it does happen).

Recently, another operator I know did not get his liquor license renewed by the liquor board. In fact, leading up to his renewal, there were numerous fights amongst patrons outside of his bar that required a constant police presence. I also know that this operator can sometimes be difficult to deal with when things do not go his way, and how argumentative he has been with local police in the past.

Now, I have no evidence to suggest that the police called the liquor board and said don’t grant this operator a renewal, but it’s not hard to believe that they could, if they wanted to. He ultimately had to shut that bar down and move to another location. While in theory, separate branches of government agencies are supposed to operate independently and transparently, in the real world, people can easily call up their colleagues, talk shop and call-in favors. In the end, you do not want to make enemies with any of these people. Doing so has the potential to attract unwanted attention in other areas where the authorities are involved.

4.) Let Go of Your Resentment Toward the Authority or Authorities; Instead, Try to Befriend Them

While I understand some operators’ loathing of government authorities, it does not help you to harbor resentment towards them. Befriending them is a much better alternative. Let’s face it, you need them in order to be in business. If internally you hate the rules they make you follow, and dislike the people that work for them, you’re only hurting yourself.

I know many operators who have lost their temper and sworn at tax agents on the phone, for example. I also know other industry leaders that get very uncomfortable around police, who automatically tense up and become defensive whenever coming face to face with an officer. This is not wise.

Remember: The person you’re dealing with represents a government authority and is NOT the government. They are a person, just like you, and they just happen to have a government job. If you see it from that perspective, you give yourself some space to approach the situation from the human side of the interaction.

I have talked myself out of all kinds of problems and situations with government authorities by remaining humble when being accused and trying my best to befriend the accuser. In some cases, the person reprimanding you can end up being your ally later down the road when you’re trying to resolve the situation.

I can remember one situation many years ago, where I made a rookie mistake on an annual payroll tax report, which resulted in my wife owing tens of thousands of dollars in taxes when she really owed zero. It was a stupid error on my part that I noticed in maybe 30 minutes after looking into it. I estimate it would have taken maybe five minutes to fix, if there was a competent tax agent looking at it. In the end, it took four years for these guys to actually fix the problem. That is four years of non-stop threatening letters and phone calls from the tax man saying we owed them a ton of money. We called in and explained the paperwork error and the file got passed to the investigation team. But it seemed like the investigation team and the collection team were never on the same page because we kept receiving collection letters

.Whenever collections called or sent a letter, we tried our very best to be polite, explain the same thing we’d already explained a hundred times earlier, and leave a good impression on whoever called. This was very difficult. There were many times I wanted to yell in the phone. But what good would that have caused? All that would have done is left a negative impression with the tax agency and ruined my mood for the day.

One week, during another routine round of threats from the collection authorities, my wife got one of the tax agents on the phone who was unusually caring. My wife was polite and explained how this was a paperwork error. My wife also mentioned how we had been constantly re-explaining the situation to various tax agents due to the miscommunication between investigations and collections. She mentioned she had already clarified the situation at least 50 times to many different agents. But something was different about this particular agent. He took an extra five minutes to type some things into his computer, which he said he was surprised the other agents didn’t do. Shortly afterwards, the phone calls stopped, and not long afterwards, the tax situation was settled.

I have no idea what exactly happened, but I am glad my wife was polite and nice to that particular person of authority. It's always better to befriend them than to be rude. It’s better for your mental health and you never know, the person might actually help you out.

Disclaimer: This article does not constitute legal advice from Questex, Bar & Restaurant or the author in any way. Always consult an attorney for any legal questions you may have. Keep up to date with the laws, rules and regulations of the state, county and town in which you operate.

Kevin Tam is a Sculpture Hospitality franchisee with more than a decade of experience working directly with bar, restaurant and nightclub owners on all points of the spectrum. From family-owned single bar operations to large companies with locations on an international scale, Tam works with them all and understands the unique challenges each kind of company faces. He’s also the author of a book titled Night Club Marketing Systems – How to Get Customers for Your Bara regular writer/contributor for Bar & Restaurant, and publisher of an eBook called: The 5 Commonly Overlooked Areas That Kill Your Food Cost.

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