Halifax bar has liquor licence suspended for leaving customer in bathroom after closing

A downtown Halifax bar has had its liquor licence suspended after staff closed the bar one night last December with a customer still in the restroom.

The three-day suspension is related to an incident at Pacifico Dance Club on Dec. 15, 2023, when a woman had been in a bathroom for an extended length of time while staff continued working and preparing to close the bar, as first reported by AllNovaScotia.com. 

The woman eventually emerged from the restroom roughly 90 minutes after the establishment had closed. 

Nova Scotia's liquor enforcement unit began investigating the incident a week later after the woman's mother filed a police report.

The investigation resulted in five charges under the province's Liquor Licensing Regulations, among them for serving liquor outside allowable hours, failing to ensure all customers leave the premises no later than 30 minutes after closing and permitting activity on the premises that is detrimental to the operation of the premises. 

In addition to the licence suspension, several conditions are part of the decision. They include orders for the bar to develop an end-of-night procedure and share it with the Alcohol, Gaming, Fuel and Tobacco Division, keep all 16 surveillance cameras in working condition, make surveillance footage available to the division upon request and store surveillance footage for at least 10 days.

Customer in restroom more than 2 hours

The woman entered the restroom at approximately 1:49 a.m. and was not seen coming back out until about 4:06 a.m., the decision said. It's unclear why she was in the bathroom for that extended period.

In the decision, a timeline of events that evening shows bar staff — including the head of security — entered the restroom several times during that span. 

The bar manager turned off the lights at 2:37 a.m. and nothing is seen on the surveillance camera until the woman exited the bathroom using the flashlight on her cellphone to navigate through the darkness, according to the decision.

It said the woman then got her jacket from the coat check area and found an exit that took her onto Granville Street.

The bar has 30 days from the date of the decision to serve the suspension.