Sour mash clash

Speaking of the miscreants at the OLCC, I see that one of the agency managers who were busted and canned for steering sweet, sweet rare bourbons their own way (but they didn't sell a single bottle for a profit, honest, would they lie to you?) is now suing for wrongful termination and all sorts of other claimed wrongs. He wants a $6 million payday!

The former chief information officer for the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, Slobodan Subasic, filed a lawsuit against the state of Oregon, the OLCC and several state agency managers on Feb. 4.

The lawsuit, filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court, alleges that the OLCC wrongfully terminated Subasic, deprived him of due process and medical leave, inflicted emotional distress on him, and retaliated against him for whistleblowing.

Subasic was one of a half-dozen senior managers fired last year in the wake of Oregonian reports about the agency’s handling of rare, expensive bourbons, including Elmer T. Lee- and Pappy Van Winkle-branded bottles.

He's the second (that I know of) of the six dudes terminated in the wake of Bourbongate who has now lawyered up and is pushing for a juicy severance.

The OLCC’s former longtime director, Steve Marks, was the first agency executive Gov. Tina Kotek forced out after she took office in January 2023. Marks filed a tort claim notice last year notifying the state he planned to sue for wrongful termination, but he has not yet done so.

It's another whole world at the OLCC, way different from the one you and I live in. And there's always that funny smell. 

Oh, and guess where the $6 Million Man came from.

He joined the Oregon Health Authority in 2010 and moved to the OLCC, where he was in charge of all of the agency’s technology systems.

Salem is such a marshy place.

Meanwhile, what ever happened to the Justice Department "investigation" into the whole affair? It started nearly a year ago now. I think the toothless state Ethics Commission was "investigating," too. They must take turns sweeping stuff under that giant Beaver State rug.

If I were the state, I'd make a deal with the IT guy. You give us the goods on some of the big-bucks shenanigans down there, and we'll pay you a hundred grand reward for your trouble. But of course, that's never going to happen.

Nobody's been criminally charged, and no wider wrongdoing has been uncovered, or probably even asked about. It must mean that this was just a cute little isolated incident. Nothing more to see here, folks! Bourbongate – ha! Ha! Go on about your business.