Case Study: California Alcoholic Beverage Violation

INTRODUCTION In this memorandum, I will discuss what procedures Vince Patton should implement to prevent future violations of the California Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) regulations, as well as other company violations. I will then address how Patton should handle the three employees who violated the regulations.
PROCEDURES
Carter Mario, George Pavlov, and Joe Roberts violated numerous Westchester Distributing, Inc. and ABC regulations. In one instance, Mario and Pavlov bribed a customer to purchase beer by giving him a “two-dollar-per-case kickback”, a clear violation of ABC regulations. To prevent future violations of the ABC regulations, Vince Patton should implement more control and monitoring activities to establish a strong boundary
Carter Mario was one of the worst violators. He was the one who initiated offering the kickback to the customer and bribing him with three neon beer signs. Previous to this situation, Patton had already suspected that he was stealing from the company. Carter Mario also persuaded his sales manager, George Pavlov, to go through with the deal to bribe the customer to buy the beer, even though Pavlov was uncomfortable with the situation. Lastly, Joe Roberts, the V.P. of Administration, handled the situation incorrectly by attempting to settle the issue himself without talking to Elizabeth Jones and Vince Patton. While I believe that Mario should be fired, this is not quite feasible for the company. Unfortunately, if Patton fires Mario, the whole company would suffer. Due to the ABC regulations, if Mario were to report what happened, “Westchester would be closed down for 45 days and Carter Mario would get away scot-free”. Therefore, Patton should keep Mario in the company but demote him to a driver. Being a driver is an extremely tough job, but it keeps Mario in the company while teaching him to be humble. On the other hand, I believe that Patton should decrease George Pavlov’s salary. Since Pavlov felt uncomfortable with the situation and turned to Joe Roberts for help, Pavlov should not have as serious consequences as Mario. By decreasing his salary, it shows that Patton is taking his actions seriously. Pavlov is still a key sales manager so keeping him in this position is the best move for the company. Unfortunately, Pavlov’s actions do violate ABC regulations so by simply decreasing his salary, it does not send a strong message to other employees that a violation of regulations is not a severe and punishable action. In regards to Joe Roberts, I believe that Patton should set up a weekly meeting with Roberts to