Joseph Steven Thume, left, owner of Fuego’s Latin Grill in Waldorf, pleads his case before the Charles County Board of License Commissioners (Liquor Board).
La Plata, MD – The Charles County Liquor Board has had its share of unusual cases. On Thursday, Aug. 11, the panel had one for the ages. A compliance check on a Waldorf restaurant where the waitress followed all the alcohol training protocol and still sold alcohol to a minor.
“I’m embarrassed to be here,” license holder Joseph Steven Thume, owner of Fuego’s Latin Grill told the board. “She took the ID and looked at it. She told me later that she had an argument with her husband and she had just gotten word that her nephew was in an accident. She told the manager she didn’t want to come in to work, but she eventually got there. Her mind was somewhere else.”
There was also the catch in that the server, Thumes’ sister-in-law, was Hispanic and spoke very little English.
Alcohol Enforcement Officer Cpl. Travis Yates said the infraction occurred June 14 when an alcohol compliance check was being conducted at establishments in that area.
The cadet and an officer entered the restaurant and were seated.
“The waitress came up to take their drink order and the cadet ordered a Corona and the officer a glass of water,” Yates said. “The waitress did ask for an ID, looked at it, then gave it back to her. She brought them their drinks and then the cadet came and made contact with me.
“I made contact with the waitress,” he said. “There was a language barrier. It was challenging to talk to her.”
“She checked it, but did she understand what she was looking at?” Liquor Board Member Thomasina Coates asked. “She took the ID, but her mind was somewhere else.”
“I had to fire her when it happened,” Thumes said, “but two weeks later I hired her back. She’s my sister-in-law. I told her she could work but that she could longer do alcohol sales.”
He told the board that he and his wife were trying to sell the restaurant.
“We’re trying to get out of it,” he added. “It’s tough, because after all the training you do everything right and still something like this happens.”
The employee had been TAM certified, he said.
Coates suggested a $750 fine for the owners and a $50 fine for the server with three days held in abeyance since it was the establishment’s first offense.
The motion passed unanimously but left Charles County Liquor Board Chair Pamela Smith shaking her head ruefully.
“She had the training, she had the ID and she still made the mistake,” Smith said.
Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com