Kelowna curling club fights $7,000 fine after serving beer to undercover teen

The Kelowna Curling Club has successfully fought a $7,000 fine after it served a 17-year-old a beer during the Canadian men’s curling championship.

According to a June 25 BC Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch decision, the Curling Club was caught in a sting operation earlier this year.

Plainclothes liquor inspectors had entered the curling club in advance followed by a 17-year-old who sat at a table nearby.

The teen ordered a bottle of Budweiser and the waitress served him without asking for ID.

The not-for-profit curling club was then issued a fine of $7,000 or face closure for seven days.

However, the club fought the fine, arguing it had done its due diligence and that serving the minor was a simple lapse of judgment by the server.

Bar and restaurants in BC caught selling to minors in BC Liquor sting operations often appeal fines based on “due diligence.”

However, regardless of how thorough staff training may have been, more often than not bars and restaurants are dinged with the fine for their one-off misdemeanour.

The curling club showed its staff training and meetings, regular reminders about ID, and its policies. The club said it was obviously a mistake and the server who had worked there for five years, was suspended for two weeks without pay.

The club, which was founded in 1942 and claims to be the largest curling club in the world, said because of the Brier there would be a lot more customers than unusual and it was expecting more minors.

Ordinarily, staff know the vast majority of the customers.

The manager and licence both testified giving an exhaustive list of the measures they have in place to ensure minors aren’t served.

Regardless, the BC Liquor Branch said the club hadn’t met the standards to prove due diligence, pointing in part that there was no staff training on the harm that alcohol consumption causes to minors.

The BC Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch delegate John Rogers said that test for due diligence was not “perfection.”

“I find that the (curling club) has a culture of compliance in its operating practices and procedures and that this incident was inconsistent with these practices,” the delegate said.

Ultimately, the club was successful and was found not liable.