Tampa, Fla. – August 11, 2020 – Attorney Richard M. Blau, shareholder and chair of GrayRobinson’s alcohol beverage law, food law and cannabis industry law groups, appeared on the ABC Action News WFTS Tampa Bay news segment "Tampa Business' Alcohol License Suspended for Operating as Standalone Bar, Owner Says They Served Food." The segment uncovers the events surrounding the accusation made by Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) that the Pegasus Lounge on Florida Avenue was operating as a standalone bar that didn’t serve food. DBPR claimed the business "exceeded 50% of its occupancy capacity" and some of the customers were not practicing social distancing on Saturday, August 8. "If the facts are as the regulators say, I think these licensees will have a difficult time persuading an appellate court they shouldn’t have been suspended," Mr. Blau said in the segment. "The exigent nature of this pandemic is certainly a weight against an advocate trying to argue that the particular location shouldn’t be suspended for its alcohol sales." View the full segment here.
