PEARSON & PEARSON, L.L.P.

Texas Dram Shop Act Deters Alcohol Providers

from Selling to Drunk Customers.

Texas adopted its dram shop law in order to provide a remedy for drunk driving victims against those who sell alcohol to persons who are obviously drunk. See TEX. ALCO. & BEV. CODE ANN. §2.01, et seq. (Vernon 1995).  A seller of alcohol has absolutely no liability under this statute for the actions of its customer unless the sale was made to someone who was already so obviously drunk he presented a danger to himself and others.

The statute provides a “safe harbor” (or “trained server”) defense that completely insulates the employer of the provider of alcohol from any liability whatsoever. See TEX. ALCO. BEV. CODE ANN. § 106.14 (Vernon 1995). The Texas statute specifically provides that when a sale is made to an obviously drunken customer, the seller becomes liable for the acts of its customer. TEX. ALCO. BEV. CODE ANN. § 2.03 (Vernon 1995). The statute’s language could not be clearer in providing that the seller is vicariously liable for the damages caused by the drunk, and that this liability attaches solely by reason of the sale or provision of alcohol to a person obviously intoxicated. See Tex. ALCO. BEV. CODE ANN. § 2.02 (Vernon 1995).

The statute does not require the plaintiff to show that the sale of alcohol to an already obviously intoxicated person was a cause in fact of the injuries. Once the sale occurs, the only other predicate to recovery is that the damages be proximately caused by the drunken customer’s intoxication. Previous efforts to inject different elements of proof, or to depart from the literal mandate of the statute, have been rejected by the Texas Supreme Court. See Borneman v. Steak & Ale of Texas, Inc. 22 S.W.3d 411 (Tex. 2000).

Prior to the Texas legislature’s adoption of the Dram Shop Act, a catastrophically injured victim was relegated to trying to recover from only the drunk driver, a speculative remedy at best, or relying on public assistance at taxpayer’s expense. In passing the Act, the legislature recognized that because alcohol permit holders reap profits from the sale of alcohol, they should also bear liability when they sell to those who are already so drunk that they are obviously a danger to the public.

Our firm makes good use of these statutes and rules of law to try to impose liability on negligent bar owners when their drunk drivers injure others.