Bar Sued For Allegedly Over Serving A Customer

Establishments that serve alcohol in Pennsylvania legally cannot serve patrons who are obviously already intoxicated. If they do this, they may be held liable. One woman in a recent out-of-state case has accused a bar of over-serving a customer who ended up attacking her.

A legal suit was filed against the bar, alleging that the establishment violated the Dramshop Act. Based on the complaint, the bar kept serving alcohol to a woman even though this woman was clearly intoxicated. The reportedly intoxicated woman then began to act in an aggressive and threatening manner.

According to the suit, a couple of patrons in the bar — a woman and man — suffered disfiguring and disabling injuries after being attacked by the drunk woman. They ended up having to lose time from work due to these injuries as well. These two patrons, who filed the suit, said the owners of the bar should have simply ejected the drunk woman in order to protect them from her tirade.

As part of their lawsuit, the plaintiffs are seeking over $50,000 in damages. If a bar is found to have been over-serving a customer, thus leading to harm to another party, the injured party has the right to pursue the reimbursement of damages sustained as a result of the bar’s actions. Liability must be established in a manner that pleases the court before damage claims will be adjudicated. No amount of money can reverse the events resulting in harm to a victim in a dram shop case; however, it may help to bring a sense of justice and closure to the situation in Pennsylvania.