Bar Drops Case Against Alioto

A State Bar referee today dismissed the disciplinary case against former San Francisco Mayor Joseph L. Alioto over a suit charging him and his son, Joseph M. Alioto, with accepting “unconscionable fees” in a 1980 price-fixing case.

Referee C. Thorne Corse, at the end of five days of hearings, said he found no record that the senior Alioto participated in the decision-making process in the beef price-fixing case involving cattle ranchers, Safeway, Kroger and A&P; grocery chains. The Aliotos had been accused of accepting $5.2 million in fees out of a $10.1-million settlement.