Plaintiff Driver Awarded $43,540.45 In Dram Shop Suit
by
Joseph C. Maya on Apr. 10, 2017
Accident & Injury Accident & Injury Car Accident Criminal DUI-DWI
Summary: Blog post on a case where a plaintiff was awarded damages from a bar that kept serving him alcohol despite the fact that he was already drunk and proceeded to get into a car accident driving home.
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Plaintiff driver filed suit against defendants, the permittee of a bar and the bar's backer, alleging a violation of the dram shop statute, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 30-102, and recklessness and wanton conduct.
The trial court credited the patron's testimony that he was sold intoxicating liquor by the bar on the night of the head-on collision with the driver. The permittee's failure to recollect serving the patron was of scant probative value. The patron repeatedly testified that he was highly intoxicated when he arrived at the bar, and that he was drunk when he was served at the bar. The patron's wife tried to remove him from his vehicle because of his acute intoxication a mere 10 minutes after he left the bar. Further, he was traveling the wrong way on the interstate a short time later. About 30 minutes after the collision, the patron was exhibiting the effects of intoxication and had a blood alcohol level of.23. As a result of the patron's acute intoxication, he drove the wrong way on the interstate, which caused the accident and resulting injuries to the driver. The drive sustained a fractured right patella, and suffered from nightmares in the months following the collision. He was no longer able to play sports or to exercise, and suffered residual negative effects as a result of the injuries he sustained. The driver did not sustain his burden of proof on recklessness.
Judgment was entered for the driver under the dram shop statute as follows: economic damages of $ 8,540.45 ($ 7,911.45 medical bills plus $ 629 lost wages) and noneconomic damages of $ 35,000, for a total of $ 43,540.45.
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Source: Fiorillo v. Willis, 2010 Conn. Super. LEXIS 3070 (Conn. Super. Ct. Nov. 22, 2010)