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PROVO, Utah (AP) -- The Utah Court of Appeals upheld $135,000 in fines issued against an auto dealership for using unlicensed employees to sell cars.
State investigators found that the Brent Brown Automotive Group allowed at least 51 employees to sell 306 cars without having a motor vehicle sales license from June 2002 through February 2004. The state initially recommended a $1.17 million fine, based on a graduated schedule of penalties, but it was reduced to $135,000 because some of the unlicensed employees hadn't actually sold a vehicle.
Judge Carolyn McHugh ruled Thursday that the fine wasn't "grossly disproportional when compared to the monetary value Brown gained ... from the selling of cars by unlicensed salespeople."
Brown said license applications were filled out, but a former payroll employee did not send them to the state. Rather than challenge the ruling, Brown said he will pay the fine and lobby for changes in the state law.
"The best thing I can do now is help get the law changed so other auto dealers won't suffer like me. If the auto dealers harmed the public, then they should get fined and all," he said. "But for a clerical error done in the course of doing business that has no negative impact on consumers, I think this fine is very excessive."
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Information from: The Daily Herald, http://www.heraldextra.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
