Bar owners and lawyers are butting heads over a proposed revision to the District鈥檚 liquor law that would limit liability for serving drunk patrons.
Bar owners hope the pending bill would save them money by reducing insurance costs. However, lawyers argue it would remove the power of a customer to sue if they are over-served and hurt themselves.
Council members Brooke Pinto and Christina Henderson proposed , in January 2023. The legislation would revise existing law to say that a dram, or bar, is only liable for a drunk patron鈥檚 injury if the bar鈥檚 staff knowingly serves an obviously intoxicated person. The 鈥渒nowingly鈥 and 鈥渙bviously鈥 parts would be new.
“I co-introduced this legislation to address the District鈥檚 exorbitantly high liquor liability costs that are not only the highest in the region, but second highest in the nation,” said Henderson in a prepared statement. “The current law is vague and does not provide a definition for ‘intoxicated’ or ‘intoxication.'”
Business owners say that the proposed law would save them money by making it harder for drunk patrons who injure themselves to sue. They say that if their liability goes down, so too would their liability insurance.
John Guggenmos co-owns P Street鈥檚 Number Nine bar in Logan Circle and supports the pending bill. He published last month, detailing its economic impact.
鈥淚t is defining intoxication, it is defining the standard of knowingly serving someone, what that means,鈥 said Guggenmos of the proposed bill.
Jean Paul Sabatier, co-owner of Logan Circle鈥檚 Jane Jane bar on 14th Street NW, agreed.
鈥淚t is to everybody鈥檚 benefit to offer a bit of clarity to these small businesses in general to make sure we鈥檙e outlining what intoxication means for everybody,鈥 said Sabatier.
For Guggenmos, it comes down to what鈥檚 fair.
鈥淓ven if I only served you one drink and you had six or seven at another bar, I would be liable,鈥 said Guggenmos.听
Alabama revises its liquor law.
Guggenmos pointed to Alabama鈥檚 April 2023 revision of its liquor liability law as an example of the positive change the District鈥檚 Dram Act could bring.
Alabama鈥檚 new law says a bar is only responsible for the injury or death of a person if they 鈥渒nowingly鈥 serve someone who is 鈥渧isibly鈥 drunk. According to Alabama Retail, an association that represents retailers in public policy, Alabama enacted the legislation to lower the cost of liability insurance for businesses.
The Alabama statute says that knowingly serving alcohol to an intoxicated person means that the bar 鈥渒new or should have known under the circumstances.鈥
Guggenmos said that the cost of liquor liability insurance directly correlates to an ISO rating that is given to states.
The Insurance Services Office, or ISO, assigns a number for how risky it is to insure establishments in a state.
Before the revision, Alabama had a score of 10, the highest possible. After it enacted the changes, ISO changed the state’s rating to a 5.听
Guggenmos said the District鈥檚 rating is a 9. He also provided a background memo for the Dram Act legislation that showed premiums as high as $400,000 for nightclubs and restaurants.
Supporters hope a reduced score would lead to lower insurance premiums.
“The legislation would bring DC鈥檚 liability insurance costs in-line with much of the rest of the country by reducing those costs for neighborhood bars and restaurants who struggle to pay these premiums at a time of increasing inflation and overhead costs,” Henderson said in her prepared statement.
‘A solution looking for a problem.’
Lawyer Timothy Clinton of the law firm Clinton & Peed doesn鈥檛 see a correlation between the proposed changes and reduced costs.
He said the District鈥檚 proposed Dram Act is a solution looking for a problem.听
鈥淚f this is an insurance problem, this should be regulated by the insurance,鈥 said Clinton. 鈥淚f the [ISO] score is high because we have such excessive intoxication in the District because they鈥檙e getting drunker than other states, this regulation will have the opposite effect than what鈥檚 desired.鈥
He said that the new law would give bars more power to over-serve. It would prohibit drunk patrons who hurt themselves from suing the place that provided the alcohol, according to Clinton.
He noted specifically a section of the proposed law that states that no lawsuit could be brought 鈥渂y the person to whom the alcoholic beverage was sold or served.鈥 Clinton said the proposed revision wouldn鈥檛 hold bars responsible when they should.
鈥淭he answer is not to give immunity to the people who are responsible for excessive intoxication,鈥 said Clinton.
He said the new law would also harm alcoholics by shifting blame away from the bars that profit from their habitual drinking. Clinton said that bars should be accountable for making responsible decisions, especially on behalf of a person with an illness whose judgment is impaired.听
Clinton said he is passionate about the issue because of a lawsuit he was involved with a few years ago. He noted he won a wrongful death case in 2019 where his client鈥檚 husband was over-served by a bar and died of complications after collapsing.
Clinton testified against the Dram Shop Clarification Act during a June 2023 hearing before the District Council鈥檚 Committee on Business and Economic Development. Trial lawyer Brendan Klaproth of Klaproth Law and government affairs director Frank Harris from Mothers Against Drunk Driving also objected to the proposed law during the hearing.
David Super, a professor with the Georgetown University Law Center who teaches contract and tort law, said he agreed with Clinton鈥檚 arguments against the Dram Act.
鈥淭his would make it very difficult to hold dram shop owners accountable for irresponsible behavior,鈥 said Super.听
The Council Office of Racial Equity also raised concerns about the Dram Act鈥檚 effect on communities of color.听
In its of the proposed law, CORE said that, while anyone can seek damages for an alcohol-related injury, residents of color face greater challenges in doing so.听
鈥淏25-0056 will likely harm justice and economic outcomes for Black, Indigenous, and other residents of color who are victims or related to victims of alcohol-impaired actions,鈥 said CORE.
Next steps.
“The next step will be for the Committee on Business and Economic Development to hold a markup and vote on the bill prior to consideration by the full Council,” Nicholas Pcholkin, legislative assistant to Henderson, said in an email.
The council has until the end of the legislative session in December 2024 to act on the bill, according to Ch茅 Ruddell-Tabisola of the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington. If it does not become law by then, it can always be reintroduced.
Ruddell-Tabisola said he hoped the bill would be enacted much sooner because the current law gives plaintiffs unlimited power and harms small businesses.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e a local neighborhood restaurant, this insurance is so expensive. It鈥檚 so far out of reach,鈥 said Ruddell-Tabisola.
Dylan Halpern is a resident of Logan Circle and was unaware of how the current law works.
鈥淚鈥檝e lived in D.C. for seven years, and I did not know this,鈥 said Halpern.听
He said he didn鈥檛 see how adding language about knowingly serving a patron or visible intoxication to the current law helped.
鈥淚鈥檓 just not sure how you could prove this,鈥 said Halpern.
This will be ridiculous. Bar owners have a responsibility to look out for the safety of the community and not just greed of their pocket. Wow everybody is responsible for their own action so is the actions of the bar. As long as the establishment has the right to deny entry and or serve they hold the responsibility of safety.
They do. They have multiple agencies holding them accountable including several different trainings and licenses required to even serve in DC. MD and VA businesses pay nothing (which DC businesses rent even asking for) while DC businesses pay hundreds of thousands of dollars a year or go without bc they can鈥檛 afford it. Alabama added language in their liquor liability reform and immediately cut their ISO score in half. There鈥檚 the proof. How anyone can argue that adding defined terms won鈥檛 be effective鈥he proof is spelled out in black and white. Want to talk about equity? I can assure you the smallest businesses, many owned by people of color, are going uninsured bc the policy prices are completely out of reach. Only the big multinational chains, out of town restaurant groups and yet another STARR restaurant can afford hundreds of thousands of dollars in liquor liability. DC doesn鈥檛 have some huge alcoholism or drunk driving problem but regardless, why is adding ANY personal responsibility from grown adults viewed as outrageous?
[…] Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto and At-Large Councilmember Christina Henderson are backing a bill to limit the ability of patrons to sue bars for overserving them. Hospitality industry veterans say this would drive down D.C.鈥檚 sky-high insurance costs, but attorneys pressing such cases think the legislation is poorly crafted. [最新蜜桃影像] […]
[…] Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto and At-Large Councilmember Christina Henderson are backing a bill to limit the ability of patrons to sue bars for overserving them. Hospitality industry veterans say this would drive down D.C.鈥檚 sky-high insurance costs, but attorneys pressing such cases think the legislation is poorly crafted. [最新蜜桃影像] […]
Pointing to Alabama as a model to follow doesn’t seem like a good strategy ….