Party host not responsible for guest's drunken crash

Martino v Stolzman, 2012 NY Slip Op 01145 [available here]

Under New York's Dram Shop Act, a bar or restaurant is responsible for injuries and mayhem caused by a drunk person if the bar or restaurant continued to serve the drunk person after the person became visibly intoxicated.* A question I get a lot is whether the Dram Shop Act also applies to social hosts who serve alcohol to their private guests.

The short answer is, no. Not unless the party host actually sells the alcohol to his or her guests, or engages in some other illegal activity (like buying and supplying alcohol to under-age drinkers).

This issue came up again recently in Martino v Stolzman, a Court of Appeals decision by way of the Fourth Department. The defendants in Martino hosted a New Year's Eve party at their home. One of their guests became intoxicated,and in the process of backing out of the defendants' driveway, collided with an oncoming vehicle driven by plaintiff.

The plaintiff sued the hosts of the party, arguing a violation of the Dram Shop Act (for serving alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person) and common law negligence (for failing to control the actions of a visibly intoxicated person on their property and for failing to help the intoxicated person back safely out of the driveway).

The Court of Appeals agreed with the Fourth Department that there was no violation of the Dram Shop Act, because there was no evidence that the party hosts were selling liquor. The Court of Appeals further held that the plaintiff could not prove ordinary negligence. While acknowledging that landowners have a duty to "control the conduct of third persons on their premises when they have the opportunity to do so," the accident occurred on a public road, and the defendants "were no longer in a position to control [the drunk guy] when he entered his vehicle and drove away." (Martino, 2012 NY Slip Op 01145.)

The plaintiffs further argued that the homeowners should have stopped the drunk person from leaving their property in the first place. The Court of Appeals would not go that far, holding "requiring social hosts to prevent intoxicated guests from leaving their property would inappropriately expand the concept of duty." (Id.) The Court was likewise reluctant to fault the homeowners for failing to stand at the mouth of their driveway and direct the drunk guest past an alleged view obstruction. Any view obstruction was open and obvious, and a landowner is under no duty to warn of a hazard that is plain for all to see.

So, to recap: a social host may serve a guest alcohol, and is under no duty to prevent a guest from leaving the party. If the party guest is involved in an accident, the party host is not liable for damages. The responsibility for responsible drinking rests with the drinker.

* This is a bit of an oversimplification, but will do for our purposes. Also, you will not be surprised to learn that bars still sell alcohol to drunk people. It is sort of the business model.