Representación de los trabajadores

In this chapter, several interesting cases that come under the dram shop lia-bility laws (laws that deal with the responsibility of the bar and tavern owners who serve alcohol to the public) are presented.

Alcoholic dram shop or dramshop is a term that is used to describe a bar, tavern, or establishment that serves alcohol by a small unit of liquid. Our court system recognizes an injured party’s right to pursue the seller of alcohol for damages caused by the acts of an injured adult customer (1). Under dram shop liability law, a party injured by an intoxicated person can sue the establish-ment that contributed to that person’s intoxication. It is interesting to note that in Texas, minors can sue the drinking establishment for their own injuries sustained while intoxicated (2). Generally, dram shop laws establish the liabil-ity of establishments rising out of selling alcohol to visibly intoxicated persons or minors who subsequently cause damage to third parties. These laws have drawn criticism as they downplay the role of personal responsibility (3).

In addition to drunken driving accidents causing injuries and fatali-ties, alcohol also contributes to violent crimes. The law recognizes that bars have an obligation to their customers as well as the public to prevent alcohol-induced intoxication resulting in motor vehicle accidents. Bar owners have an obligation to cut off those who drink too much. They are expected to pro-vide adequate security (4,5).

17.1 Alcohol, Carbon Monoxide, and Death of a Female Motorist

17.1.1 Legal Aspects: Responsibility of the Bar

This case is about Mary Haddar, a Caucasian female, 40 years of age, who was found unconscious due to alcohol intoxication and carbon monoxide poi-soning in her car. She was transported to the hospital where she died despite the best efforts of the doctors to revive her. Her two sons are suing the bar where she drank alleging that their mother died because of the negligence of the bar for serving her alcohol even though she was intoxicated.

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17.1.2 Medical Aspects: Alcohol Intoxication and Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Because of alcohol intoxication, Mary became lethargic and fell asleep at the wheel. Her car was old and had a faulty exhaust system that emitted carbon monoxide into the car. With the widows rolled up, the carbon monoxide had nowhere to go. This resulted in Mary becoming unconscious.

17.1.3 Factual Background

Mary Haddar was a Caucasian female, 40 years of age, and weighed 150 pounds. She was thrice divorced and had two teenage sons. She was found unconscious in a parking lot at 8:00 a.m. on February 11, 1999. An ambu- lance transported her to the hospital. Despite their best efforts at the emer-gency room, Mary died. The unfortunate demise of this apparently healthy individual could have been easily prevented.

Mary went to the Tiger’s Bar at approximately 1:00 p.m. on February 10, 1999 and left the bar at 3:00 a.m. the next day. Several of her friends and acquaintances stated that she was at the bar for 14 to 15 hours and was drinking draft beer all night. Some acquaintances became concerned as they thought that Mary drank nearly 20 beers. They asked the bartender to stop serving Mary beer. According to the eyewitness account, Mary left the bar at 3:00 a.m. Mary’s car was found parked at the parking lot of Tiger’s Bar. A tow truck was called in and the tow truck driver found Mary unconscious lying on the front seat of her car, with the engine running, lights and wipers on at 8:00 p.m. An ambulance was called and Mary was transported to Xinna Memorial Hospital. She was pronounced dead at the emergency room. The death was ruled due to alcohol intoxication and carbon monoxide poisoning.

17.1.4 Alcohol Intoxication

Blood alcohol levels depend on the weight of the person, age, gender, health, food in the stomach, medications, and co-abuse of drugs. Ethanol is water-soluble and is absorbed rapidly into the body within 30 to 90 minutes. Women may have less gastric alcohol dehydrogenase activity than men, which may explain why women generally have higher peak ethanol levels and may have higher toxic effects of ethanol than men (6). One alcoholic beverage results in a level of 0.02% in blood in a 200-pound man. Alcohol levels are dissipated from blood at a rate of 0.02% per hour. These assumptions are applicable to men but are not quite accurate for women. Assuming that a person is in normal health, it is possible to calculate the number of drinks a person had and the toxic-ity associated with it provided the blood alcohol levels and the time frame in which the person drank are known (7,8). Mary was 150 pounds, and was seen

drinking draft beer from the time she entered the bar at 1:00 p.m. on February

Time (h) Alcohol Dissipated

(%) Calculated BAC

(%) Comments

3:00 a.m. 0.12 0.36 Left the bar

4:00 a.m. 0.10 0.34

5:00 a.m. 0.08 0.32

6:00 a.m. 0.06 0.30

7:00 a.m. 0.04 0.28

8:00 a.m. 0.02 0.26

9:00 a.m. 0 0.24 Blood draw

The above calculations show that the blood alcohol of the deceased reached extremely high toxic levels and fatalities are known to occur at 400 mg/dL. At these levels, the bartender should have easily noticed the symp-toms of intoxication in Mary. The bar was negligent in serving alcohol to the deceased. When Mary left the bar, her blood alcohol levels were so high it made her lethargic and sleepy (9,10).

17.1.5 Conclusions

As stated in the death certificate, the deceased had alcohol intoxication, which contributed to her unconsciousness, and subsequently she was exposed to carbon monoxide from her car. With a reasonable degree of scientific cer-tainty, it can be concluded that:

1. Mary exhibited symptoms of alcohol intoxication to everyone at the bar.

2. The bartender could have easily prevented this unfortunate death by shutting Mary off from buying unlimited alcoholic beverages.

3. The bar was negligent in not paying attention to Mary’s symptoms of intoxication and providing help to her.

17.2 Alcohol Intoxication, Backed up Car,