Teenagers hit by drunk driver: Dram shop liability: Wrongful deaths: Settlement

Law Reporter, Mar 2004

Parsley v. Ohio Valley Bistros, Ky., Jefferson County Cir. Ct., Div. 15, No. 02-CI-07147, June 2003.

Parsley, 16, was driving on a highway. Stauble, 16, was a passenger in the vehicle. A drunk driver crossed the median and collided head-on with the vehicle in which the two high school students were riding. They suffered fatal injuries. Parsley is survived by her parents and adult sister and brother. Stauble is survived by his parents and two minor sisters.

Parsley's and Stauble's parents sued the restaurant where the driver had been drinking all afternoon, alleging that it knew or should have known that the driver was intoxicated and still continued to serve him alcohol. The driver's blood-alcohol level was approximately three times the legal limit at the time of the incident.

The parties settled before trial for defendant's policy limits of $21 million, to be divided equally between the Parsleys and the Staubles. The terms of the settlement also require defendant to make changes to its policies, including posting a sign indicating that it may refuse to sell alcohol to impaired patrons, conducting quarterly staff meetings aimed at increasing alcohol awareness, offering free taxi rides to intoxicated patrons, and inquiring about alcohol-related convictions on its employment application.

Plaintiffs' expert witness in this case was William Smock, toxicology, Louisville, Ky.

Defendant's experts in this case were Leonard Waite, pharmacology/toxicology, Louisville, Ky.; George Nichols, physical medicine, Murray, Ky.; Thomas Gennarelli, neurosurgery, Milwaukee, Wis.; Kenneth R. Agent, accident reconstruction, Lexington, Ky.; and Robert J. Middleton, internal and addiction medicine, Louisville, Ky.

Parsleys' Counsel

*Gary R. Hillerich, Louisville, Ky.

Stuables' Counsel

*F. Thomas Conway, Louisville, Ky.