$29 Million Settlement for South Carolina Dram Shop Claim
A tragic South Carolina case highlights the dangers of illegal alcohol sales. In that case, a gas station sold alcohol twice to an underage driver earlier in the day. The driver later caused a crash that killed a father and severely injured his son. The resulting dram shop claim against the gas station settled for $29,273,000, demonstrating the serious liability businesses can face when they sell alcohol to someone who should not have been served.
Under Kentucky dram shop law, businesses that sell or serve alcohol—including bars, restaurants, liquor stores, and gas stations—can be held responsible when illegal alcohol sales lead to serious injuries or deaths. These cases often involve serving alcohol to minors, overserving visibly intoxicated individuals, or violating alcohol licensing laws.
Satterley & Kelley, PLLC’s dram shop lawyers represent people injured by negligent alcohol service. Our attorneys understand the complexities of Kentucky bar liability laws and work to hold businesses accountable when their illegal alcohol sales cause catastrophic harm.
If you or a loved one has been injured by a drunk driver or by someone who should not have been served alcohol, a Kentucky dram shop attorney at Satterley & Kelley can help you pursue compensation. Call our Louisville office at (855) 385-9532 to learn more about your rights.
Driver Kills Two Who Were in Their Yard
Most drunk driving accidents involve people inside vehicles. This fatal accident killed a father and severely injured his son in a place they probably thought was safe: their own yard, according to the South Carolina Lawyers Weekly. The publication didn’t name the parties to the lawsuit or the accident’s location. The son suffered a traumatic brain injury, and his mother witnessed the crash.
Their attorneys claim this is the largest dram shop act settlement in the state’s history and the largest such settlement by a US gas station.
Police arriving at the scene recorded video from a dash camera. In one video, the driver, who was younger than 21, stated he bought alcohol at a gas station. Based on evidence obtained from the station’s owner, it was determined that the driver bought alcohol there twice before the accident.
The underage customer presented a fake ID to the cashier. It was scanned through their point-of-sale system, which didn’t indicate a problem, although it contained a falsified birthdate. The driver didn’t have his fake ID with him for the second sale but the gas station clerk sold him more alcohol anyway. The clerk didn’t ask for an ID and overrode the register’s ID-checking function.
Law enforcement initially investigated the accident, and the gas station wasn’t cited for breaking the law. The lawsuit investigation found they didn’t provide police with the complete video of the second alcohol sale.
The clerk told police investigators that he recognized the customer from the initial sale and that the customer’s ID was approved by their system. He said he followed company policy by not obtaining an ID for the second sale because he remembered the customer.
Police determined that, based on the realism of the driver’s fake ID and the shortened surveillance video provided by the gas station, no criminal violation took place. Plaintiff’s attorney provided the complete video to the police. They reinvestigated the incident and issued a violation notice.
The Gas Station’s Technology Used to Screen Drivers’ Licenses Wasn’t Up to the Job
The police used the driver’s fraudulent identification and scanned it with an iPhone app that confirmed it was fake. The gas station’s scanning system only read the fake birth date encoded in a fake barcode. It couldn’t determine whether an ID was genuine. The gas station’s scanner was useless when a sophisticated fake was used, so the underage driver was allowed to buy alcohol twice on the day of the accident.
Gas Repeatedly Sold Alcohol to Underaged Consumers Despite Repeated Fines
Before the accident, the gas station chain had 15 violations for selling alcohol to underage customers. The company didn’t dispute the findings. Instead, it chose to pay fines. It did the same for the violation related to this fatal accident. The plaintiff’s attorney used this history to tell the gas station owners they faced liability.
The company settled the case at a mediation session before it was added to a lawsuit against the driver.
Kentucky Dram Shop Act Allows for Recovery in Two Situations
The Dram Shop Act covers an entity licensed to sell alcohol when it provides alcoholic drinks to someone who subsequently drives and injures someone. Under state law, if the customer is the legal age to drink or older, the injured party seeking compensation must establish that the licensee negligently served them:
- They knew, or should’ve known, that the person was intoxicated
- They should’ve stopped them from drinking more, but didn’t do so
Proving a dram shop case when a driver is younger than the drinking age is much simpler. It’s illegal for a Kentucky licensee to provide alcohol to someone younger than 21. The plaintiff (the injured party filing the lawsuit) would show the following:
- The person was too young to legally drink alcohol
- The defendant served them alcohol
- The person later caused the accident
When the driver is old enough to drink and is intoxicated, but served alcohol anyway, and causes an accident and injuries, often the defense is that the defendant didn’t know the customer was intoxicated and shouldn’t have known that, given the situation.
These cases can revolve around witness testimony and surveillance videos to determine whether the person was acting and talking like they were drunk. It’s an opportunity for the defense to cloud the issues and plant doubt in the jury members’ minds.
That’s not the case when the person served isn’t yet 21 years old. It boils down to the person’s birthdate and whether the defendant served them alcohol. Given the ease of establishing liability, a defendant, such as a gas station chain, may be more likely to settle a case and avoid a potentially larger jury verdict.
Dram shop act cases can involve punitive damages if a defendant’s negligence is extreme or if they acted intentionally. Punitive damages aren’t meant to compensate a plaintiff for their injuries. They are intended to punish the defendant for its actions and discourage it and others from repeating their mistakes.
A defendant with a long history of selling alcohol to minors, like the gas station chain in this case, may risk punitive damages if it doesn’t settle a case.
Speak With an Experienced Dram Shop Lawyer
Satterley & Kelley, PLLC attorneys have decades of experience handling vehicle accident and dram shop claims. You can discuss your situation, how Kentucky law may apply, and how we can help with a knowledgeable Louisville attorney. Contact our law offices online or by telephone at 855-385-9532.