![]() How Your Company Can Responsibly Serve Alcohol at Social Events getting nicer, and it is a great time for company outings and morale-building events. However, California courts have been expanding the employer's potential liability when employers enter the social realm, especially for incidents stemming from alcohol consumption. Other states may or may not follow California's trend, however, the factors identified in this article are certainly smart preventive measures that may keep your company from establishing your state's precedence. holiday party for its employees. Marriott provided each employee two drink tickets and taxi service home. A Marriott manager, on his own cognition, smuggled in additional alcohol. A Marriott employee got intoxicated, utilized the Marriott's free taxi service to get home, but then drove to another destination. In route, he was involved in an accident that killed another driver. Marriott seemingly did everything right. It tried to manage its employees' alcohol consumption by using drink tickets. It stressed not to drink and drive. It even provided free taxi service home. How could Marriott be responsible for the actions someone took after he got home? How could Marriott be responsible for a rogue manager's actions? Ultimately, the court found Marriot's preventative measures an issue of fact; the court held a jury should determine if the precautions taken adequately protected the individuals. It further opined, when an employer provides alcohol, to benefit its enterprise (team building, camaraderie, morale, etc.), then it should bear the burden of injuries proximately caused by its employee's excessive alcohol consumption. The court also found an employer should reasonably assume employees will find a way to drink to intoxication: employees can easily obtain more than their share of drink tickets, purchase more drinks after tickets are used, "smuggle in" alcohol, etc. Employers cannot claim ignorance. Lots of Water and Take Some Tylenol to Recover from this Hangover courts have not provided guaranteed steps needed to avoid liability, except perhaps prohibition. This article analyzes the cases filed through the past two years. It evaluates arguments made by the plaintiff's bar, analyzes moving papers, and examines how courts have viewed various company's precautions. Admittedly, two years will not provide meaningful case law and nothing in this article is a silver bullet. But, employers cannot wait for the perfect opinion or legislature to act. Below are some factors which have been argued could minimize liability. Planning also guarantees the lowest attendance at an employee event. No one, besides your attorney, is seriously suggesting prohibiting alcohol at a company event. supervisor endorsed excessive drinking that resulted in the injury. Before your event, conduct training with all your managers and supervisors regarding the company's policies and the company's expectations. Managers and supervisors need not be babysitters, but they need to understand they set the example. Document this training. preventative practices and representation through civil litigation. He is an associate at Neil Dymott and recipient of the 2015 Secretary of Defense Freedom Award. He is also a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy Reserves and just returned from a tour in the Middle East. McCabe & Hudson APLC 1010 Second Avenue, Suite 2500 San Diego, California 92101 619.238.1562 Fax neildymott.com |