Country Clubs and Dram Shop Liability

The textbook example of a dram shop liability case, where a person who got injured in a drunk driving accident sues the bar that served alcohol to the drunk driver who caused the accident, involves bar employees who were too distracted or busy to know how drunk the drunk driver was. Maybe it was a noisy, crowded bar or nightclub where the servers barely registered who they were giving drinks to. Perhaps the drunk driver went to several bars on the night of the accident, and by the time the driver got to the last bar at the end of the night, the bartender was drunk, too. In fact, some dram shop liability lawsuits tell the story of employees who got injured, driving home drunk from a workplace where all the work took place in alcohol-soaked conditions. Of course, dram shop liability applies to all establishments that serve alcohol, not just dimly lit dive bars where the patrons and employees alike have long since abandoned all hope. Country clubs, where wealthy people drink to excess in broad daylight, can also be defendants in dram shop liability cases. If you got injured in a car accident involving a drunk driver who consumed alcohol at a country club, contact a Fort Lauderdale auto accident attorney.

Widower Sues Country Club After Golfer’s Drunk Driving Collision Course

Some 25-year-old men in South Florida play video games and smoke weed all day long in the living rooms of their parents’ houses, but not Nathan Hartman. At an early age, he was a fixture of the Stoneybrook Country Club, where he would meet his friends and play golf almost every weekend. One afternoon in 2017, as he was driving home after a boozy game of golf, he crashed into another car, but no one got injured, so Hartman kept driving. Two minutes later, he caused a three-car accident, in which Beatriz Gonzalez died. She was 63 years old. Police arrested Hartman at the scene of the accident, at which time his blood alcohol content (BAC) was nearly three times the legal limit.

Beatriz’s husband Jorge filed a dram shop liability lawsuit against Stoneybrook. The court issued a summary judgment in favor of the defendant, but Jorge appealed. At trial, Jorge summoned a friend of Hartman’s who often played golf with him at Stoneybrook to testify on behalf of the plaintiff. The friend testified that he and Hartman played golf together almost every weekend, and that it was Hartman’s habit to drink two Styrofoam cups of whiskey and Coke at the bar upon arriving at the country club, before playing golf. He would drink another whiskey and Coke at the clubhouse after the ninth hole. Furthermore, he would get alcoholic drinks from the drink carts that circulated on the golf course.

Set Up a Consultation Today

A personal injury lawyer can help you get justice after a drunk driving accident where the at fault driver consumed alcohol at a country club.  Contact Boone & Davis in Fort Lauderdale, Florida or call 954-566-9919 to explore your potential recovery options today.

Sources:

prezi.com/p/82pqcoplu4_u/gonzalez-v-stoneybrook-west-golf-club-llc-inc/

caselaw.findlaw.com/court/fl-district-court-of-appeal/1867944.html