Chapter 12 Liability and the Sale of Alcohol Price of a liquor license depends on your background more expensive if you have a Must prove he has not abused liquor in the past consumer seller driver has not been convicted of a felony and is of good character Required to identify past 5 employers and addresses of the places they ve lived Liquor License bad track record background check Illegal Sales intoxicated Business can be liable if served to habitual drunkards and people who are visibly o This can be hard to prove though Serving underage criminal liability Violating the law jail time pay legal fees injuries business closed property damages Underage peeps Acceptable forms of proof of age o Passport state issued ID state issued non ID card military ID How many pictures are on your license Three Shouldn t accept cracked ID but Florida license does that sometimes o Cannot use birth certificate must be picture ID sorry guys An establishment licensee may not be liable for an underage person acquiring alcohol o Could be out of the scope of the employee In this case the bar cannot foresee the illegal consumption If a college permits minors can drink if it is for a class wine tasting bartending Knowingly selling alcohol to a minor can result in revocation suspension of license and possibly losing your bar altogether If they look drunk You should not sell them anymore alcohol Signs of a drunk person for those who are oblivious o Slurred speech bloodshot glassy watery eyes flushed face poor coordination buying randos a round of shots picking fights for no reason slapping random girls asses as they walk by thinking you will really join that dance team someone suggested you join while showing your stuff at Coliseum guilty Proving someone is wasted o Proving signs of intoxication bartender customers and other people who saw this person can testify use expert witness o Checking BAC levels breathalyzer 08 or higher is a no no Common law Business who sold alcohol is not liable Imposes liability on the drunk patron o It is the drunk person who CONSUMED the alcohol is liable for injuries to others o The drunk people are the ones who have to pay for all the damage if they get into a car accident Drawbacks to law o Restaurants bars usually have insurance and assets to help cover the damage but they are not considered liable so this money does not help o The drunk person usually does not have enough money to pay the injured damages so the injured person does not get any money Statute for parents to be arrested at a house party if they supply alcohol to minors Some places you can t gamble and drink strip clubs alcohol no Dram Shop Acts Dram shop what they used to call a bar in the olden days Imposes liability on a restaurant or bar for certain injuries law in favor of the plaintiff injured party o Purpose of this act Changed the common law to keep up with the times cars are now considered weapons b c they are faster stronger think Kanye West song people did not have access to cars as easily as they do today Minority rule allows patron to sue the bar for injuries when the bar is negligent o Bar may claim comparative negligence applies will still probably have to pay fines and will probably have their liquor license suspended Case 12 1 Jell O shot Shooters bar Plaintiff tried to blame the bar for the death of a boy who voluntarily drank at Shooters and drowned while urinating in the ocean behind the bar Did not win the case because the kid voluntarily drank therefore it is not the bar s fault under the Dram Shop laws Bar responsible for injuries from car accidents or fist fights violent acts Liability to third parties under dram shop act 3rd party person hit by drunk driver Most states have these laws if you are a visible third person o You are drunk driving have an accident and hit another person The person who was hit by drunk driver can sue but the drunk driver can t Must be able to prove the person was intoxicated would be driving a car after You can sue more than one bar for injuries but it will usually be allocated between the drinking two bars o If you go bar hopping then all the bars you were visibly drunk at will be liable Liability to passengers in patron s car Some states look at passengers conduct o If your friend in the car was the one who wanted you drinking the patron won t be liable because the friend egged them on they were asking for it basically The bar will be liable if the driver was drinking and the passenger wasn t Some states believe that if the passenger gets into a car knowing the driver is drunk it is negligent to do so and they will have to pay for some of the damage done comparative negligence A jury will be asked to allocate the liability o Page 436 Oklahoma case o Apportioned between driver bar and passenger Bar paid 129 000 bar was 43 liable Total amount is 300 000 300 000 x 43 129 000 Some states say that the passenger could not have foreseen that the bar would continue giving drinks to a visibly drunk person so the passenger should not take all of the blame Nevada doesn t have dram shop laws o If a third party is injured the bar restaurant is not liable o The drunk person who caused injury will be completely liable Liquor Liability Insurance ALWAYS buy liquor liability insurance Can be bought by bars to protect their establishment from being sued Cost based on volume of alcohol sold prior illegal sales incidents nature of the establishment and the hours it s open Strategies to avoid liability pg 438 439 For those of you who don t have the book these are just common sense things you would do to avoid liability Post signs deterring underage drinking promote non alcoholic beverages offer free rides home to intoxicated drivers limit number of drinks a patron can have Florida Florida has very strict social host provision liability Server in FL has to be 18 Sunday sales restrictions Quincy can t buy alcohol on Sunday many places can t buy Sunday before noon Wisconsin drinking law Binge drinking capital of the world At discretion of bar or restaurant AWOL Alcohol Without Liquid If your parent guardian spouse is 21 you CAN drink even if you are 7 years old People get drunk off inhaling alcohol vapors considered illegal in 17 states including Florida sorry guys I know we are all having FOMOs because of this Travels directly into the bloodstream getting you bat shit drunk in half the time Review Questions 1 The law prohibits the sale of alcohol to certain categories of people