Sunday, October 14, 2001
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Sunday, October 14, 2001 |
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Council to consider fine in Hooters incident
By MONROE ROARK
A $1,000 fine and a written warning has been recommended by Fayetteville city officials for Hooters restaurant after an underage drinking incident last month. Four employees of the restaurant were arrested Sept. 14 after it was discovered that one of them served alcohol to the other three, who were underage. It was also learned that the general manager of the restaurant had been sitting at the table just prior to the arrival of police officers, city staff reported at Wednesday night's City Council work session. City Manager Joe Morton made the recommendation for the fine and warning and informed Hooters corporate officials that it would be voted upon at the council's Oct. 18 meeting. He also said that Hooters would be allowed to appeal the recommendation at that time. However, the restaurant will not be doing so. An attorney for Hooters sent a letter to Morton saying that the chain "takes seriously its responsibility to ensure that every server and manager is competently trained in the responsible service of alcohol, and you can rest assured that we will not tolerate any irresponsible service of alcohol." A Hooters representative told the council Wednesday night that the manager and all four employees were fired as a result of the incident. Also, at the request of council members, he briefly covered the orientation process for Hooters employees, which he said includes training on service of alcohol. "You were lucky," said Councilman Larry Dell, adding that if this incident had taken place a year earlier, it would have led to an automatic 30-day suspension of the restaurant's beer and wine license. That portion of the city's ordinance was amended within the past year after feedback from local merchants, some of whom were caught in a citywide sting operation nearly two years ago that resulted in 20 of the city's 39 licensed vendors of alcohol receiving citations. Mayor Kenneth Steele emphasized that the city takes violations of this kind very seriously, but he added that Hooters' recent actions, including the firing of the parties involved, mitigated the matter somewhat. Police Chief Johnny Roberts added that these arrests were not the result of a sting operation, but another employee phoned police and reported it. "That means the message is getting across to some employees," he said.
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