A liquor store in downtown Richmond. (Ned Oliver/Virginia Mercury)
A second employee of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority has filed a lawsuit against ABC, alleging he was wrongfully put on administrative leave this May in retaliation for reporting “millions” of dollars worth of missing liquor inventory to executives and Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration.
In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, former Assistant Director of Retail Operations Thomas Aruanno claims former ABC CEO Travis Hill and current Chief Retail Operations Officer Mark Dunham put him on administrative leave “to keep him quiet and to make him a scapegoat for their own wrongdoing” and then ordered an armed raid on his house that was halted at the last moment.
Va. ABC official files whistleblower suit, alleging retaliation for reporting millions in losses
Subsequently, he said, he was issued a disciplinary notice that was later withdrawn, demoted and then “micromanaged, harassed, and subjected to a hostile work environment” that drove him to quit.