Lindbergh’s Place

ISSUES

Whether the bar Lindbergh’s Place is liable for over-serving a patron who became intoxicated and caused injury to another patron, whether the bar had a duty of care to the business invitee when he was physically injured outside of the bar, and whether the physical attack was reasonably foreseeable by the staff of the bar? Whether the alleged victim provoked the alleged attacker?

BRIEF ANSWER

A court is likely to impose liability on the bar, deciding in favor of the Plaintiff, Jake. The Plaintiff contends that the defendant owed a duty to protect the plaintiff against reasonably foreseeable criminal acts of third parties occurring outside the property line used to assess the bar. The court will concede that the plaintiff was a business invitee upon entering the bar and the defendant owed him a duty to exercise ordinary care for his safety, and this duty extends beyond the front door of the bar. Because the Plaintiff did not provoke the defendant or exercise any activity outside the normal business invitation, the defendant’s duty never ceased from the time of the plaintiff’s entering the bar to the time the attack occurred. The bar was negligent in that they did not uphold their duty for ordinary protection through the failure to exercise proper procedures to remove a dangerous person from the premises.

FACTS

On April 12, 2012 Jake met some of his friends for drinks after school at Lindbergh’s Place, the small bar located near his school. There was a scheduled speaker for anyone interested at 8pm, hence, the place began to fill up shortly after Jake’s arrival. A group of five bikers pulled up to the bar and parked right outside the bar entrance in the 15-minute loading zone, where no parking is allowed, but regardless were not asked to vacate by anyone working at the bar. A private unarmed security guard supposed to be checking everyone’s identification was present at the entrance. This security guard was hired by the bar through the recommendation of another bar in the area. The security guard became distracted and missed checking a few people’s identification, including a biker’s, Gary’s identification. A part time waitress, Kate, was serving Jake and his friends drinks. Kate told Jake that lately the bar was attracting more non-college patrons and that there was a recent incident just the week prior in which a biker patron had to be kicked out. Also, one of the bikers present on this night, Moose, had stirred up some trouble at the last speaker the bar had. The cops were called, but they left shortly after they spoke to the security guard. Also during that same week, Moose had bothered female patrons, but at the time this occurred there was no security guard present to stop him, and the bartender working that day did not say anything.

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