The Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority has asked a federal court to dismiss a $1 million whistleblower lawsuit filed by its director of retail operations, Jennifer Burke, whom it had placed on paid administrative leave last year after an investigation of thefts by employees of retail ABC stores that are under her supervision. The month after Burke was placed on administrative leave last year for a potential disciplinary action, she approached officials in Gov. Glenn Youngkin ‘s administration with allegations that ABC had lost liquor inventory valued at $1.7 million during the transition from the authority’s antiquated distribution warehouse in Richmond to a new facility in Hanover County in 2022. Assigned to assist with the transition between warehouses, she had reported the apparent inventory loss to ABC officials 10 months earlier and later accused them of covering it up. ABC said in its court filings on Thursday that the decision to place her and several other employees under her on administrative leave in March 2023 had nothing to do with the allegations she shared the next month with Eric Moeller, then chief transformation officer under Youngkin, and Tim Hugo , whom the governor had appointed chairman of the authority’s board of directors. “Burke was one of multiple employees placed on paid administrative leave while the fraud was investigated,” Laura Windsor, a Richmond lawyer representing ABC, said in a memorandum in support of the authority’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. “Burke was ultimately reinstated with no loss of pay or job title following completion of the investigation.” The litigation has intensified turmoil at the semi-independent authority. ABC lost three executives to resignation within four months last year and remains in political limbo in a state budget standoff because of a revenue forecast that now is expected to come up short $110 million in profits for the state treasury and a bid by the General Assembly to make ABC fully independent of the governor’s office. The Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority is asking a federal judge to dismiss a whistleblower's lawsuit. Burke, who came to ABC from Dollar General in 2018, filed the lawsuit in December against the authority, former CEO Travis Hill and Chief Retail Operations Officer Mark Dunham, both of whom she accused of disparaging her before other employees. Thomas Aruanno, former assistant director of retail operations at ABC, filed a separate federal lawsuit in February with similar allegations of retaliation under the state’s whistleblower protection statute. She amended the suit last month to include Tom Kirby, then-interim CEO and now chief of enforcement. The amended suit alleges that ABC had further retaliated by issuing another potential disciplinary action against her for drinking at a bar with co-workers during work hours five days before Christmas. ABC said it has not taken disciplinary action against her for the incident, which it alleged had occurred at 3 p.m. on a work day, when Burke was driving a state-owned vehicle. Sarah Robb, a Richmond lawyer representing Burke, said, “Commonwealth of Virginia employees deserve to be treated better.” Robb said the ABC motion “fails to address the millions of dollars it lost and tried to cover up, as alleged.” In its request to the court to dismiss the case, the authority said the report of alleged inventory losses “cannot and should not shield Burke from the ABC’s efforts to hold her accountable for pervasive employee thefts occurring in her department, predating her report to the Governor’s office, or for unrelated potential misconduct by Burke eight months later.” Windsor, on behalf of ABC, said Burke had failed to provide facts to support claims that the authority had violated the Virginia Fraud and Abuse Whistleblower Protection Act or other state law. She asked the court to dismiss all claims against the authority, Kirby and Hill, and all but one of four claims against Dunham. ABC also asked that the court schedule oral argument to help clarify issues in the case.
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