75
C
ASE: 10
ISSUE BEFORE THE COURT
Whether an establishment serving alcohol has a duty to use reasonable
care to refrain from selling or making alcohol available to minors where
the establishment knew or should have known that minors were on the
premises and were attempting to drink alcohol.
THE FACTS
You Be the Judge!
You Be the Judge!
The penalty for selling
alcohol to a minor
varies by state, but
usually includes a fi
ne, a
warning, or in the case
of an individual buyer, a
license suspension.
e Defendant, Norwood Country Club, is a commercial estab-
lishment located in Norwood, Massachusetts that serves meals and
alcoholic beverages to the general public. It also makes its facility
available for private parties by special arrangement.
On the night in question, a Norwood Country Club employee,
Paul Moran, organized a family reunion to be held in a private room
at the club. e party lasted from 7 pm to a er midnight. e party
had approximately 100 guests, including six minors, with assigned
seating at eight tables. e deceased teen, a 17-year-old female, was the
girlfriend of a family member who was 16 years of age.
Paul Moran, a family member and full-time bartender at the
club, reserved the room free of charge. e family paid the club for
the drinks consumed at the party and paid for a caterer to supply the
food.
Michael Mercer was the club's bartender supervisor. Mercer ap-
proved Moran to use a room at the club for his private function free
of charge, although he was unaware that Moran was drinking alco-
hol that night. Mercer acknowledged that minors were present at the
party.
At 9 pm that evening, Moran told Mercer to go home and he
would take responsibility for the private party room. Moran asked
family members to help him police the party to make sure there was
no underage drinking.
Patricia Erwin, the bartender on duty that night, could not see
the private party room from the bar. at night, she served drinks to
party and public guests. She did not enter the private party room dur-
ing the evening to check if there were any alcohol-related problems.
Erwin explained that although this was part of her normal practice,
For Evaluation Purposes Only