Club Held Liable for Failure to Stop Employee from Driving Drunk
An exotic dancer received a jury award of approximately $100,000 against her former employer, a gentleman’s club, on Tuesday after the jury found that the club was negligent in failing to stop her from driving home after she drank too much while at work. The dancer apparently had enough to drink while at work one night in October of 2007 to cause her blood-alcohol level to rise to almost three times the legal limit in Alabama. Security pulled her off of the dance floor due to her intoxication and then tried to stop her from driving home three times before letting her go. She then tried to drive home and got into an accident, breaking her nose and her back.
At trial, she maintained that these injuries would prevent her from pursuing her profession in the future. She claimed that the club had recklessly disregarded its own safety rules, including limiting dancers to two drinks per night and taking the keys from drunken employees or arranging transportation to escort them safely home, and that such disregard for the rules led to her accident and injuries. The jury agreed with her side of the story and awarded her the six-figure compensatory damage amount.
This story illustrates an important aspect of which plaintiffs in personal injury suits should be aware, which is that establishments who sell, distribute, or otherwise encourage the consumption of alcohol may be held liable for accidents caused by letting drivers leave the premises when they are too intoxicated to drive. It is noteworthy that in this case the club was held liable for the accident despite the club’s policy and procedures designed to prevent drunk employees from driving home, because they failed to actually prevent her from getting behind the wheel while intoxicated. This principle can apply not only in this type of situation but also to a restaurant or other establishment that allows a customer to continue drinking when it is clear he or she has had enough or when a business allows a customer to leave in his or her vehicle despite the fact that the business knows the customer is intoxicated. This principle is even more significant in Tennessee, because Tennessee is a contributory negligence state, which would allow the restaurant or business to be held liable for the portion of the damages that stems from its own negligence, no matter how great or small that may be.
Source: http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/02/former_stripper_gets_100000_in.html
