5 Risk Management Tips: Limiting Liquor Lawsuits
Consider one of these scenarios. Your bartender is serving a patron on a busy Saturday night. She gets slammed with patrons left and right, so she doesn’t take the time to heed signs of intoxication. Slurred speech, droopy eyelids, and the holding of the head do not signal your bartender to stop and access the toxicity of the man at the bar. Eventually, he gets up, walks out, gets behind the wheel, and loses control of his vehicle, slamming into a young woman and daughter.
Similarly, your restaurant could be working an off-premise event and the bartender could over serve a man who then gets behind the wheel and slams into a nearby business.
In both scenarios, the victims and the business owner could sue your restaurant under dram shop liability, which could cost thousands of dollars in legal fees. To avoid all this, it’s important to put in place the following precautions:
- TIPS Training
A good training program can do wonders at limiting liquor lawsuits. Invest in the training of your servers to recognize the warning signs of intoxication, and you’ll save yourself a lot of legal mumbo jumbo in the long run.
- Promote Safe Alcohol Consumption
A little self-awareness can go a long way. Placards that read “Drink Responsibly” can set the tone for how you view over-intoxication in your restaurant. Encourage them to exercise good judgment, and if they don’t, the bartenders need to step in and do so for them.
Moreover, consider implementing a last call before the bar closes. Depending on how much someone has to drink, not everyone will sober up in an hour, but many may fall into legal driving limits.
- Protocol for Handing Over-Intoxication
Clear protocol must be established and enforced in any restaurant serving alcohol. Your bartenders need to know how to handle an intoxicated patron. This could be arranging a designated driver, calling the cops, or taking the patron’s keys to stop them from leaving.
Should they become aggressive, a manager or designated bouncer should step in to handle the situation. Whatever you do, you must not let that person get behind the wheel.
- Always Card Everyone
Serving a minor, even by accident, is an absolute no-no. Doing so makes your case so much harder to defend in court, and depending on your policy, your liquor liability coverage may include exclusions for cases involving minors.
- Purchasing a Liquor Liability Policy
While purchasing a policy may not eliminate liquor lawsuits, it does give you the financial means for handling a lawsuit without having your business go bankrupt as a result. Liquor liability insurance can cover legal defense fees, damages awarded, and any other costs a judge may throw at you.
Whatever policy you choose, it’s important to purchase one with assault and battery coverage. These are fairly common claims. By nature, alcohol causes people to lose inhibitions, and people may become violent with other patrons or your staff.
Getting a custom liquor liability is only a phone call away. Call Brian Kilcoyne at 617-612-6515 to discuss your options today!
