City council members heard appeals this week from a pair of local business owners who have been fined and face temporary closings as punishment for selling liquor to minors. Among the points that the liquor operation owners raised was the current city ordinance’s failure to include employees in the punishment; the individuals who actually sold liquor to minors should also face fines, the owners said. There may be some validity to that argument, but we hope that if the council considers sanctions for employees who sell to minors it will not make the mistake of reducing penalties for the business owners.

Two local establishments, Bell Liquor and Mickey’s, got hit with fines and other penalties when for the second time in a year they sold liquor to an underage individual who was working with police. The businesses will suffer as a result, but the employees who failed to check the buyer’s identification will not — at least not at the hands of the city. Should individuals face a fine? Probably so. It would certainly help liquor business owners emphasize the importance of I.D.-checks.

That being said, businesses that sell liquor bear most of the responsibility for seeing that employees follow the law. They should provide training, and they should monitor employees’ performance. When they fail to do those things, they should suffer the consequences.

It makes sense to fine individual store and bar employees who sell liquor to minors. It doesn’t make sense to reduce the penalties for the businesses that are ultimately responsible.