$28 Million Verdict After Boston Bar Serves Alcohol to Minors Who Fatally Assault 23-Year-Old
Won by Sugarman & Sugarman.
A Suffolk County jury awarded $28 million, including $25 million in punitive damages, after Father's Huddle Cafe in Boston served alcohol to underage patrons who attacked Thomas Christopher, 23, chasing him into traffic where he was struck and killed; the Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed the verdict against the bar on January 28, 2003.
What happened
On the night of September 8, 1992, Thomas Christopher, 23, was outside Father's Huddle Cafe, a Boston tavern, when an altercation broke out between his group and two other patrons. Those two men, Kevin Baker and Matthew Lombard, were both 18 years old and had been admitted and served alcohol by the bar despite being underage.
As the confrontation turned violent, Christopher fled. He ran into traffic and was struck by a car. He died from his injuries. His parents, Gary and Sheila Christopher, brought a wrongful death action against Father's Huddle Cafe, Inc. and its related entity, Cafe Enterprises, Inc.
Marianne LeBlanc and Benjamin Zimmermann of Sugarman and Sugarman presented evidence at trial that the bar had knowingly admitted and served the two underage men. A doorman had observed a fight developing outside but the bar made no call to police and took no steps to intervene. Staff and management remained passive for roughly ten minutes as the violence built outside their door.
The Suffolk County jury returned a verdict of $28 million: $1.5 million to each of Christopher's parents in compensatory damages, plus $15 million in punitive damages against Father's Huddle Cafe, Inc. and $10 million in punitive damages against Cafe Enterprises, Inc.
On appeal, the Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed the verdict against Father's Huddle Cafe, Inc. in full. The court agreed that the tavern's willful decision to serve alcohol to minors, combined with its failure to act as violence unfolded outside, justified the punitive award. The $10 million verdict against Cafe Enterprises, Inc. was reversed on the ground that the evidence did not support holding that entity separately liable. The judgment against the operating bar company stood.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
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