Restaurant Fees Cases CA2/8

FACTS

In their class action complaints, plaintiffs sued city and county entities, as well as ABC, to recoup local fees those entities collected, while at the same time ordering restaurants to cease operations in whole or in part. Those claims are ongoing in the coordinated proceedings in superior court and are not at issue here. The complaints allege that despite the orders requiring the closure of plaintiffs’ businesses or severe limitations on their operations, ABC continued to charge, collect and fail to partially or completely refund alcoholic beverage control fees. The complaints allege ABC had a mandatory duty under Business and Professions Code section 23320 to refund annual fees. That section provides the annual fee paid at the time of application for a new permanent license “shall be refundable only in the event that the license application is withdrawn or denied.” (Id., subd. (c)(1).) Section 23320 contains no other refund provisions, so the allegation that ABC had a mandatory duty to refund annual fees to entities that already have licenses appears not to be reflected by the language plaintiffs quote in their complaints. Plaintiffs sought damages and equitable…