Court Opinion

ID: 9780768
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 02:50:55.598913+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:34:13.246643
License: Public Domain

Justice KITTREDGE.
Because I believe the court of appeals correctly analyzed and decided this case, I respectfully dissent. The question presented is whether Agent Quincy Ford was a “bona fide” guest of a member of the Blue Moon Sports Bar when he gained entry to the private club. In my judgment, Agent Ford clearly was not a bona fide guest. As the majority of the court of appeals noted, construing the applicable regulation as giving Agent Ford the imprimatur of a bona fide guest “would eviscerate” its purpose. S.C. Dep’t of Rev. v. Blue Moon of Newberry, Inc., 387 S.C. 467, 473, 693 S.E.2d 21, 24 (Ct.App.2010). I agree and would affirm the court of appeals.
The facts are not in dispute. Blue Moon placed an advertisement outside its door indicating the telephone number to call for admission. Agent Ford was stopped by the doorman when he attempted to enter the bar. The doorman instructed Agent Ford to call the telephone number posted so that Agent Ford could gain permission to enter the bar. Agent Ford called the number and spoke to Steve Malone, who is a Blue Moon employee and member. Malone gave Agent Ford, a complete stranger, permission to enter the bar. The doorman allowed Agent Ford into the bar, and Agent Ford purchased and drank an alcoholic beverage.
In reversing the court of appeals, rejecting the agency’s interpretation of its own regulation and holding that Agent Ford was a bona fide guest, the Court claims it is applying the plain language of the regulation. I believe the plain language and meaning of Regulation 7-401.4(K) compels a finding that Agent Ford was not a bona fide guest. Although I do not disagree with the majority regarding the potential “slippery slope of the Department assessing the subjective relationship between the member and his guest,” this case is far removed *268from any slippery slope. The fact that applying the regulation may prove problematic in another case does not justify reversal of the court of appeals under these facts. Here, we need not struggle with notions of “subjective relationship” or otherwise, for Agent Ford and Malone had no relationship at all.
The agency’s interpretation of Regulation 7-401.4(K) is not only entitled to deference, it is also in accord with common sense when applied to the undisputed facts of this case. Moreover, the agency’s interpretation of the regulation is consistent with the South Carolina Constitution. See S.C. Const. art. VIII-A, § 1 (“[Licenses may be granted to sell and consume alcoholic liquors and beverages ... on the premises of certain nonprofit organizations with limited membership not open to the general public....”). Yet today, the Court sanctions a sham practice that effectively transforms a purported private, nonprofit establishment into one open to the public.
TOAL, C.J., concurs.