The Superior Court of Bergen County granted summary judgment in favor of Clark & Fox’s client, Mamajuana Cafe Paterson, in a case brought by a plaintiff injured in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. In the case, captioned Cadorett v. Mamajuana Cafe Paterson, et al., Defendant Adriana Navia, her brother Juan and a friend went to a party at Mamajuana Cafe where they purchased bottle service for the group. While there, the group decided that Juan would be the designated driver for the evening.
At the end of the evening when the car was brought up by the valet, Juan got in the driver’s seat and drove the trio home towards his house. On the way, Adriana became upset with her brother and became emotionally abusive to him. Because she was being loud and emotional, Juan parked the car a couple blocks from his home and left the two women in the car to remove himself from the situation. He did not take the car’s key fob with him. Adriana then took the driver’s seat, turned on the car, and drove away, eventually causing the accident that injured Plaintiff. She was charged with Driving Under the Influence after a test at the police station registered her blood alcohol level at 0.14%.
Plaintiff brought suit against Mamajuana Cafe alleging that the Cafe was liable under the New Jersey Dram Shop Act for negligently serving Adriana alcohol while she was visibly intoxicated, which caused the accident that injured Plaintiff. In order to prevail, Plaintiff had the burden of proving that Adriana was visibly intoxicated when she consumed alcohol, that the automobile accident was proximately caused by the negligent service of alcohol, and that the automobile accident was a foreseeable consequence. Plaintiff’s suit attempted to impose liability on Mamajuana under the Dram Shop Act for the actions of an intoxicated person who caused an accident that occurred miles away after Mamajuana had released the vehicle involved to a sober designated driver.
Clark & Fox moved for summary judgment on the basis that imposing liability on the Cafe was an impermissible extension of the Dram Shop Act and would hold a tavern owner liable for the actions and/or inactions of sober patrons that occurred off premises. We further argued that allowing Plaintiff’s case to move forward would permit the jury to usurp the Court’s role in determining as a matter of law whether dram shop liability should be expanded beyond the statutory framework and existing case law. Clark & Fox also pointed out that Plaintiff failed to cite any cases in New Jersey or out-of-state holding a tavern liable after it provided a vehicle to a sober designated driver.
In response, Plaintiff argued that the Cafe negligently permitted Adriana to serve herself from the the bottle at the group’s table to the point of intoxication and that it was the purview of the jury—not the Court—to decide whether the Cafe’s negligent service of alcohol caused the automobile accident. The Court rejected this argument finding that dram shop liability has limits and the Cafe was not responsible for the manner in which Adriana ultimately accessed the vehicle. The Court also agreed that there was no decision in New Jersey that holds a tavern liable for conduct that occurs off-premises after it provides a designated driver a vehicle. Accordingly, the Court entered summary judgment in favor of Mamajuana Cafe.
In addition, the Court denied a summary judgment motion filed by Juan. In doing so, the Court relied on a recent Appellate Division decision that holds a designated driver may be liable if he/she permits an intoxicated person to operate a vehicle. The Court therefore held that Juan assumed a legal duty to drive Adriana back to his house and the jury must decide whether his breach of that duty was the proximate cause of the motor vehicle accident.
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John M. Clark, CEO/President: jclark@clarkfoxlaw.com
