Pennsylvania State Police, Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement v. La Caffe, Inc.

672 A.2d 849, 1996 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 86
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 6, 1996
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 672 A.2d 849 (Pennsylvania State Police, Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement v. La Caffe, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pennsylvania State Police, Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement v. La Caffe, Inc., 672 A.2d 849, 1996 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 86 (Pa. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

MIRARCHI, Senior Judge.

The Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement (Bureau) appeals a Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas order granting an appeal by La Caffe, Inc. (La Caffe) of a $250.00 fine imposed on it under Pennsylvania’s Liquor Code, Act of April 12,1951, P.L. 90, os amended, 47 P.S. §§ 1-101 — 8-803.

La Caffe is a corporate licensee under the Liquor Code with an establishment in Philadelphia. In January 1993, a Bureau enforcement officer observed Peter Latigona, the sole corporate officer of La Caffe, exiting a liquor store in New Jersey with four cartons of liquor and beer. The officer observed Latigona place the cartons into a passenger vehicle. He then followed the vehicle into Pennsylvania, where he stopped it. Latigona is a New Jersey resident and the vehicle is registered in New Jersey.

La Caffe was cited for violating, by its agent or employee, Sections 491(2) and (3) of the Liquor Code, 47 P.S. §§ 4-491(2), (3). Those sections provide that it is unlawful for any person to possess and/or transport within the Commonwealth liquor obtained from a source other than a Commonwealth State Store, 47 P.S. § 4-491(2), and for any person within the Commonwealth, by himself or by an employee or agent, to obtain liquor from a source other than a Commonwealth State Store. 47 P.S. § 4-491(3). Pursuant to Section 471 of the Liquor Code, 47 P.S. § 4-471, “[ujpon learning of any violation of this act ... by any licensee ... his officers, servants, agents or employes, or upon any other sufficient cause shown, the enforcement bureau may ... cite such licensee to appear before an administrative law judge [ALJ] ... to show cause why such license should not be suspended or revoked or a fine imposed, or both.” An ALJ sustained the citation based on a violation of the Liquor Code and imposed the $250.00 fine. La Caffe appealed to the Liquor Control Board (Board), which affirmed the AL J’s decision.

La Caffe then appealed to the trial court, which, analyzing the record before the ALJ on a de novo basis, reversed the Board’s decision. The court reasoned:

Briefly, only one issue was seriously contested: Was Mr. Latigona, who purchased liquor out-of-state, acting as a father as opposed to an agent of La Caffe, Inc.? Because I was convinced that he purchased the liquor for his son’s wedding, I concluded that he was performing parental duties, as opposed to commercial ones. Withal, I declined to impute his conduct to the licensee. (Emphasis in original). (Footnote omitted).

La Caffe, Inc. v. Pennsylvania State Police, Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement (No. 9408-0021, filed April 19, 1995). The court also noted that the “liquor was not the type regularly served at the Licensee’s establishment. Instead, the type (and quantity) had been specified (and paid for) by the bride (or, perhaps, by the bride’s family).” Id. The Bureau now appeals to this Court.

The sole issue raised in this appeal is “[w]hether or not the Licensee is subject to sanctions under the Liquor Code regardless of whether the Licensee was acting in his capacity as an individual or in his capacity as a licensee.” (Appellant’s brief, p. 3).

The Bureau argues that the trial court erred because Latigona’s intent is irrelevant under sections 491(2) and (3). It contends that the prohibition of those sections applies to “any person,” and that the Liquor Code employs a strict liability standard. Hospitality Investments of Society Hill, Inc. v. Commonwealth, 121 Pa.Cmwlth. 486, 551 A.2d 341 (1988). It claims that a violation by a licensee occurs regardless of whether the licensee knew or should have known of the misconduct and irrespective of whether the violation occurs on or off the licensee’s premises. 47 P.S. § 4-471; Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board v. TLK, Inc., 518 Pa. 500, 544 A.2d 931 (1988); Commonwealth v. Lyons, 142 Pa.Superior Ct. 54, 15 A.2d 851 (1940). The Bureau also maintains that the “corporate fiction” here should be ignored because [852]*852it cannot shield “licensee” against strict liability for “his” actions away from the actual establishment.

La Caffe responds that the Bureau makes a fundamental error in its failure to distinguish La Caffe from Latigona. It argues that Latigona is not the licensee, but is instead an employee of the licensee and, thus, the Bureau must establish, and it did not, that the licensee engaged in conduct through its agent or employee. 47 P.S. § 4-471. La Caffe claims Hospitality and TLK are distinguishable in that they dealt with violations occurring on a licensed premises. It argues that strict liability does not apply off the premises, as it would be absurd to hold a licensee responsible for everything that an employee does off premises. In situations involving violations off premises, La Caffe maintains, there must be some showing that an employee was acting within the scope of his agency on behalf of a licensee. It also considers the Bureau to have relied on dicta from Lyons that is inapposite because the licensee and the actor were legally the same in that case. Further, La Caffe asserts that the Bureau’s “corporate fiction” argument is waived because it was not properly raised before the trial court. In any event, La Caffe argues, there is no evidence supporting the exceptional relief of “piercing the corporate veil,” because there was no evidence that the corporation was used to commit fraud or other such illegality.

We think La Caffe’s arguments and the trial court’s opinion are convincing and logical and, as confirmed by the following discussion, they lead us to dispose of this unique case in La Caffe’s favor.

The Bureau apparently showed that Lati-gona would himself be strictly liable for his actions, despite any benign intentions, pursuant to sections 491(2) and (3). It is not disputed that, although La Caffe qua licensee took no action in this case, it could nevertheless be held liable for Latigona’s violations if certain circumstances existed.

First, it might be liable according to the terms of the Liquor Code if Latigona had been acting on behalf of or otherwise in connection with his relationship to La Caffe. Clearly, as the trial court found, he was not.

Second, La Caffe could be liable if there were cause to “pierce the corporate veil” and treat both La Caffe and Latigona as one. However, it appears from the record, including the Bureau’s statement of the matter complained of following the trial court’s order, that this theory was not sufficiently raised by the Bureau before this appeal and, therefore, should be treated as waived. See Pa. R.A.P. 302. Instead of mentioning “piercing the corporate veil” or undertaking an analysis of that subject, the Bureau, the ALJ and the Board all too consistently referred to Latigona as the “licensee,” which he simply is not, without specific justification. They almost exclusively relied on a strict liability rationale under the Liquor Code; they did not hold the fact that Latigona is La Caffe’s sole corporate officer constituted “sufficient cause” to penalize La Caffe.

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Bluebook (online)
672 A.2d 849, 1996 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 86, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pennsylvania-state-police-bureau-of-liquor-control-enforcement-v-la-pacommwct-1996.