Damn Dram

Here's a "sobering" perspective about holiday partying from Michael Maynard, a free-lance journalist who has joined us at Improved Experience as a consultant to provide his weekly view on topics from Human Resources and Recruiting to business at large.  Thanks for this timely reminder, Michael.

 

As the summer is ending and fall and winter are rapidly approaching, this is the time many businesses start planning to hold their holiday banquets and parties.  In many company cultures, these events are part of the company's "work hard, play hard" philosophy so these events often lead to many employees getting drunk and acting in bad behavior.

There are legendary high-technology industry stories about the havoc caused by Wang Laboratories sales people while attending the company's annual sales meeting in Rome.  Allegedly, the sales people behaved so badly that the Pope wrote Dr. An Wang, requesting the company not hold any more sales meetings in Rome.  If your company lives by the "work hard, play hard" belief, like Wang Laboratories did, your company's CEO and other executives must become very aware of the Dram laws, which, if not followed, could become very costly to the company and its executives.

A dram is 1/8 of a fluid ounce and is usually used as a measure of Scotch whiskey. The Dram laws are in effect in 38 states. If an intoxicated employee leaves the company's party and gets into a serious traffic accident, the CEO can be sued for negligence and violation of the Dram laws.  These laws are based upon the legal theory of "social host liability,"  which in relation to the company party, asserts that it is the responsibility of those who supply liquor to others to stop an intoxicated employee from driving or other forms of normal activity which become dangerous to the employee.  If the employee leaves the party and harms another person or property, the supplier of the alcohol, (in this case the company and its CEO), are responsible for this bad behavior and can be sued for damages.  The application of the Dram laws is hard on bars, restaurants, and liquor stores.

If a customer leaves the establishment in an intoxicated state, whether or not they show intoxication in their behavior, the bartender can be sued, the servers of the alcohol can be sued, the valets can be sued, the security staff can be sued and the owner(s) of the establishnmenent can be sued. All of them will be held liable for violation of the Dram laws.  The server, valet and bartender should recognize the intoxication of the patrons and prevent them from doing harm to themselves and others.  These employees should take the car keys of the intoxicated guest and call a family member, relative, friend or the police to drive the patron home. They must stop serving alcohol to the intoxicated guest immediately.

In 1999, in a New Jersey court, a $135 million verdict was awarded in the Antonia Verni case, a seminal case for the Dram laws. A six-year old who was paralyzed when a drunk driver, who had been served 14 beers at a New York Giants football game, drove home and accidentally hit Verni.  Verni's family sued the National Football League, the New  York Giants, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and the concessionaries, who were found liable according to the Dram shop laws of varying degrees of comparative negligence. Since this point, the State of New Jersey, has tightened up its Dram shop liability laws and expanded upon the duties of the servers of alchol. (Source: wikipedia.com dram (unit)).

The rule of thumb calculation to avoid getting drunk is imbibing one drink per hour. This calculation varies by each person's gender, age, weight, amount and type of alcohol served and other factors, such as eating food with the drink.

I have a major problem with the Dram laws. These laws shift responsibility from the individual imbibing the alcohol to the person(s) serving the alcohol.  I drink very seldom and have a limited capacity to do so.  When I do consume alcohol, I drink either a glass of wine or one of those drinks with an umbrella in it. By nature, I am very quiet. How can someone who doesn't know me and hasn't been able to watch me continually know that I've had too much to drink?  The Dram laws force the busy valets, servers and security staff to keep count of each patron's number and type of drinks imbibed and to look for any typical intoxicated behaviors:  talking loudly, slurring of words, unevenness in balance, and abnormal behavior, such as trying to start fights or aggressively trying to befriend other patrons. I' ve talked with bartenders about the Dram laws. They all said that requiring them to know when one patron is drunk amongst many patrons is an impossible standard to meet.

I do not agree with the shifting of responsibility for intoxicated behavior from the individual.  It is another case where the individual who causes harm can shift responsibility from themselves to others, even others who weren't there.  However, the law is the law. If you or your company are planning to host a holiday party, remember the penalties for violating the Dram laws, and be sure to limit the amount of alcohol served so that your employees and guests drive home safely.   

About Michael Maynard: Michael is a free-lance journalist and management consultant.  As a freelance writer he has written for CEO and CIO magazines and other magazine and newspapers.  He was managing editor and featured columnist for Global Business Newsletter.  He was also a featured columnist for the Washington Post-Newsweek syndicate.  For more than 25 years, Michael has been President and Co-Founder of Azimuth Partners, a marketing and business development consultancy.  You can reach him at michael@improvedexperience.com.

 

Technorati tags:  Dram laws, holiday party, Wang Laboratories, personal responsibility. 

Comments

[Michael Maynard]

Claudia, I lived through the "wild and woolly" stage of the high tech industry. It was common place to use Friday night drinks at the bar to foster camraderie, especially for the sales force.

It was a tough time for many woman, who had to become "one of the boys" to be accepted, while looking and blind eye to the sexist remarks made, getting felt up and propositioned. I'm not a prude, but I'm glad those days are gone. I would have my manhood questioned for not going along with the bad behavior. I object to having my being an employee contingent to putting up with crude and tactless behavior of co-workers.

[Claudia Faust]

Hey Michael, this is an interesting look at one of the situations that people love to hate HR over. Beer Fridays were common in many of the companies I worked for over the years until perceived risk reached an uncomfortable level - and then those sessions (which helped foster cameraderie and and work-peripheral friendships) went away. Understandable in the context, but sad.

I am a huge fan of individual responsibility over the legislated kind, but struggle with the murky area between those two. It is certainly true that alcohol can loosen even the strongest self-perception, but like the bartenders you mention I struggle with my role as policeman of someone else's tipping point.

Things that make you say, "Hmmmmmm...." Thanks for the thought process.