This Bizarre $500 Fine Has A DC Bar’s Owner Shaking His Head In Disbelief

A popular establishment in Washington, D.C., was issued a fine earlier this month for an incident that occurred in June 2014. The infraction? The drummer of a band passed gas and opened a window.

The Adams Morgan bar, cleverly named Madam’s Organ, was handed an order by the District’s Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board saying it was being fined $500 for violating a settlement between the bar and the ABC Board reached in 2008, reported Borderstan.

 

Flickr/Adam Fagen

“The doors and windows of the establishment will remain closed from 12:30 a.m. until closing when live music is being played,” the 2008 settlement reads. The settlement was included in the order. Borderstan explains what ultimately led to the fine:

According to the report, an Alcohol Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) inspector personally observed a live band playing ‘directly in front of one of the establishment’s ground floor windows’ between 1:30 and 1:33 a.m. on June 22, 2014.

In April, Madam’s Organ General Manager Carlos Wilcox testified at an ABRA hearing that he ;personally closed the windows during the performers’ first break of the night,’ and that the band’s drummer ‘needed air and cracked a window.’

Madam’s Morgan owner Bill Duggan admits the drummer did crack open the window slightly. Why? ‘He opened the window to let [a] fart out,’ says Duggan. ‘He cracked it open for five minutes, then the inspector showed up.’

‘Twenty f—–g years with not one violation and this is what they came up with,’ Duggan says. ‘People get stabbed and shot in these other establishments. In ours, someone farts and cracks a window and they spend a year on it.’

Madam’s Organ posted a forceful statement on their Facebook page last week, along with the order containing the fine, presumably in response to someone who did not believe the charge. “[F]or the dickhead who thinks this is BS and needs to see the order  Yes, it’s BS….absolute BS from the ABC Board. F–k them…and f–k you,” said the post. “But to everyone one else. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT. You have no idea how frustrating it is to operate a business in this city.”

It was not just the fine….it cost us thousands in attorney’s fees.and probably tens of thousands in taxpayer money and time. Yes this is BULLS**T.

 

Facebook/Madam’s Organ

 

h/t: Uproxx

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