Opinion ID: 202879
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Claim Against the Roxy

Text: Plaintiffs have appealed the dismissal of their so-called method of operation claim, wherein they urge us to recognize a new theory of liability for bar or tavern owners. We first survey the applicable Massachusetts tort liability law and then analyze how this novel claim might fit within existing law. In 1968, the SJC held that a person injured in a car accident, caused by an intoxicated driver, could have a cause of action against the owner of the bar where that driver was served. Adamian v. Three Sons, Inc., 353 Mass. 498, 233 N.E.2d 18, 20 (1968). However, the court explicitly stated that liability would only attach where the bar could have reasonably foreseen the risk of serving an already intoxicated patron. Id. Thus, the SJC adopted the rule that a tavern keeper does not owe a duty to refuse liquor to an intoxicated patron unless the tavern keeper knows or reasonably should have known that the patron is intoxicated. Cimino v. Milford Keg, Inc., 385 Mass. 323, 431 N.E.2d 920, 924 (1982). [4] There can be no negligence on the part of the tavern owner unless he serves alcohol to a person who already is showing discernible signs of intoxication. Vickowski v. Polish Am. Citizens Club, 422 Mass. 606, 664 N.E.2d 429, 432 (1996). That visible intoxication provides a basis for inferring the requisite knowledge of intoxication, with its attendant foreseeable risks, on the part of the tavern owner. Thus, a plaintiff who shows that the patron in question was actually intoxicated has not done enough to establish liability. The evidence must also show that the intoxication was apparent, or should have been apparent, to the server prior to service of the last alcoholic drink. Id. Where a patron was exhibiting signs of intoxication before he or she was served a last alcoholic drink (or drinks), id., there is circumstantial evidence of the tavern owner's knowledge that he was serving an already-intoxicated person. This type of circumstantial evidence enables plaintiffs to carry their burden without the difficulty of providing direct evidence of the tavern keeper's knowledge. See, e.g., Makynen v. Mustakangas, 39 Mass.App.Ct. 309, 655 N.E.2d 1284, 1287 (1995) (no liability without evidence of patron's obvious intoxication prior to service of his last drink); Kirby v. Le Disco, Inc., 34 Mass.App.Ct. 630, 614 N.E.2d 1016, 1018 (1993) (same). The plaintiffs seek to offer a different type of circumstantial evidence to show that the bar knew, or should have known, that it was serving intoxicated patrons, thereby creating foreseeable risks to those patrons and third parties. They contend that the Roxy's method of operation provides a basis for inferring such knowledge. They emphasize that the Roxy was managed in a way that ensured maximum alcohol sales with minimal knowledge on the part of the bartenders and waiters about the level of intoxication of any particular patron. They point to the low ratio of servers to customers (one server for every sixty customers), the atmosphere (dark, loud, and crowded), and the availability of alcoholic beverages from multiple sales points. A given customer could purchase a drink from any of the sixteen bartenders or six wait staff, and could purchase different drinks from each of these servers throughout the evening. Thus, plaintiffs allege, it is possible for a patron to become heavily intoxicated without a single server having sold that person more than one drink, and, consequently, without realizing the risk of over-serving that patron. Furthermore, the plaintiffs claim that this situation is exacerbated by the inability of Roxy servers to implement the good serving practices taught at their training sessions. The Roxy required each server to take a course called Training for Intervention Procedures, (TIPS) which is designed to decrease the likelihood of over-serving customers by teaching servers about visual cues of intoxication, controlling customers' rate of consumption, keeping track of the strength of drinks served, and advising customers to order food while drinking. The plaintiffs allege that Roxy's wait staff could not possibly apply the procedures taught during TIPS training because there were too many customers for each server and the atmosphere made it difficult for a server to observe a given customer's behavior. The plaintiffs also contend that the Roxy had notice of its allegedly dangerous practices because of numerous past incidents involving negligent or criminal activity by Roxy patrons. For example, the plaintiffs note that Massachusetts notified the Roxy whenever someone was convicted of driving while intoxicated and informed the police that they received their alcohol from the Roxy. There were five such reports during the five months prior to the plaintiffs' car accident. Based on the police reports and other evidence that its patrons sometimes became excessively intoxicated, the plaintiffs claim that the Roxy's method of operation created sufficient notice of the likely risks that intoxicated persons purchasing alcoholic drinks at their premises would harm themselves or others. Therefore, to prevent the bar's size, commercial structure, and atmosphere from sheltering it from liability for the negligent driving of one of its patrons, they ask us to reverse the district court's dismissal and reinstate the method of operation claim against the Roxy. Massachusetts courts have not yet recognized the theory of liability proposed by the plaintiffs. [5] The case of Tobin v. Norwood Country Club, Inc., 422 Mass. 126, 661 N.E.2d 627 (1996), relied on by the plaintiffs, is not to the contrary. There, a country club was held liable after a minor became intoxicated at a private function and injured herself. The club had supplied a bartender and alcohol. Id. at 629-30, 633-34. In holding the club liable, the SJC pointed to factors such as the bartender's location, his inability to monitor who was receiving the drinks he sold, and the absence of a club manager to monitor the alcohol intake of the guests. Id. at 633-36. There was no direct evidence that the bartender (or other club employees) had served alcohol to the minor. While these factors do describe a method of operation, they were cited for the limited purpose of showing that the club had caused the minor's alcohol consumption, in the absence of an actual `hand to hand' transaction or its equivalent. Id. at 632. In cases involving minors, the critical fact is the service of alcohol to an underaged person. Such service itself can be the basis for liability. In cases involving adults, a plaintiff must show both service and knowledge of the patron's intoxication. Tobin says nothing about use of a method of operation as circumstantial evidence of the tavern keeper's knowledge of an adult customer's intoxication. Whatever the force of plaintiffs' method of operation theory of liability (and we make no judgment about it), our role as a federal court hearing a state law claim is circumscribed. The plaintiffs may be correct that Massachusetts would want to prevent the sort of commercial behavior engaged in by the Roxy. Thus far, however, the state courts have repeatedly reaffirmed the rule originally articulated in Adamian: a defendant tavern owner may not be liable unless his tavern served a patron who was already visibly intoxicated, and hence the tavern owner knew or had reason to know of the risk involved in such service. Any alterations to this rule must come from either the Massachusetts legislature or the state courts. We are, therefore, compelled to affirm the district court's dismissal of the method of operations claim against the Roxy.