Crowe v. Gaston

134 Wash. 2d 509
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 26, 1998
DocketNo. 64311-3
StatusPublished
Cited by71 cases

This text of 134 Wash. 2d 509 (Crowe v. Gaston) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Crowe v. Gaston, 134 Wash. 2d 509 (Wash. 1998).

Opinions

Madsen, J.

Joel Crowe seeks review of a trial court or[513]*513der granting defendants Oscar’s and Kevin Rettenmeier’s motions for summary judgment. At issue is whether Oscar’s can be liable for alcohol-related injuries to Crowe when Oscar’s sold alcohol to a minor who shared it with another minor who then injured Crowe. We find that Oscar’s can be held liable and reverse the trial court’s order granting Oscar’s motion for summary judgment.

Also at issue is whether Kevin Rettenmeier, the minor who bought the alcohol, can be found liable for Crowe’s injuries for supplying alcohol to the minor who then injured Crowe. We conclude that he cannot and affirm the trial court’s order granting Rettenmeier’s motion for summary judgment.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On February 11, 1994, Kevin Rettenmeier, age 17, met Joe Schweigert and two of Schweigert’s friends, Brad Rosenquist and Adam Fitzpatrick, all of whom were under 21, and agreed to buy them beer. They all proceeded to Oscar’s, Rettenmeier traveling in a separate car. When they arrived, Schweigert and his friends gave money to Rettenmeier, who then entered the store and purchased beer while the others stayed in their car out of sight. It is not clear from the record how much beer was purchased. Rettenmeier purchased either 24, 12-ounce cans plus two 40-ounce bottles, or 12, 12-ounce cans, or four to possibly seven 40-ounce bottles of beer. Rettenmeier gave all the beer he purchased to Schweigert and his friends.

Afterward, the group decided to go over to the house of another acquaintance, Steve Dean. At Dean’s house they were joined by Joel Crowe and others. The group drank beer and played pool; however, Crowe claims he did not drink any beer. Later that evening, Crowe accepted a ride home by an intoxicated Fitzpatrick. During the ride, Fitzpatrick drove off the road and hit a tree, causing injuries to Crowe.

[514]*514Crowe sued Oscar’s and Rettenmeier, among others, for damages. Crowe claimed that Oscar’s and Rettenmeier were hable for his injuries because they had furnished the alcohol that caused Fitzpatrick’s intoxication. The trial court granted Oscar’s and Rettenmeier’s motions for summary judgment. Crowe appealed the trial court’s order to the Court of Appeals. This court granted the Appellant’s motion to transfer the case from the Court of Appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

An appellate court engages in the same review as the trial court when reviewing a summary judgment order. Reynolds v. Hicks, 134 Wn.2d 491, 495, 951 P.2d 761 (1998). Summary judgment is appropriate when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id. If, after considering the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, reasonable minds could come to but one conclusion, then the motion for summary judgment will be granted. Id.

VENDOR LIABILITY

The issue presented in this case is whether Oscar’s, a commercial vendor, can be liable for injuries to Crowe which resulted from Oscar’s illegal sale of alcohol to Kevin Rettenmeier. Crowe bases his claim of negligence on Oscar’s violation of RCW 66.44.3201 and RCW 66.44.270,2 which prohibit the sale of alcohol to anyone under the age of 21.

In order to prove an actionable claim for negligence, Crowe must show (1) the existence of a duty to the plaintiff, (2) a breach of that duty, (3) a resulting injury, and (4) the breach as the proximate cause of the injury. See Reynolds, 134 Wn.2d at 495. Oscar’s argument in this case is two[515]*515fold. First Oscar’s contends that it did not owe a duty of care to Crowe. Second, Oscar’s asserts that, even if it owed a duty of care to Crowe, it was not the legal cause of Crowe’s injuries.

A. Duty of Care

We turn first to whether Oscar’s owed a duty of care to Crowe. The existence of a legal duty is a question of law. Schooley v. Pinch’s Deli Market, Inc., 134 Wn.2d 468, 474, 951 P.2d 749 (1998). Washington courts have recognized that a legislative enactment may prescribe a standard of conduct required of a reasonable person that when breached may be introduced to the trier of fact as evidence of negligence. Id. at 474; Purchase v. Meyer, 108 Wn.2d 220, 737 P.2d 661 (1987). To determine whether a defendant owes a duty of care to a complaining party based upon a statutory violation, this court has adopted the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 2863 which, among other things, requires the injured person to be within the class of persons the statute was enacted to protect. Schooley, 134 Wn.2d at 474-75. Oscar’s argues that this prong of the Restatement test is not satisfied.

Citing our decisions in Young and Purchase, Oscar’s contends that Crowe is not a member of the protected class because only minor purchasers and third persons injured by the minor purchaser are protected by the statutes in question. See Young v. Caravan Corp., 99 Wn.2d 655, 663 P.2d 834, 672 P.2d 1267 (1983) (a minor purchaser’s estate had an action in negligence for the minor’s alcohol-related [516]*516death against the tavern owner who sold alcohol to the minor); Purchase, 108 Wn.2d 220 (a third person injured by an intoxicated minor purchaser had a cause of action against the tavern owner who sold alcohol to the minor). However, in our recent decision in Schooley, we found the protected class was not so limited.

In that case, Lori Schooley became intoxicated from alcohol obtained from another minor purchaser and injured herself. Schooley, 134 Wn.2d at 472. The alcohol vendor in Schooley made a similar argument which we rejected, finding the protected class extends to injuries which result when a minor purchaser shares the alcohol with other minors. Id. at 476. We noted that this court in Purchase emphasized that vendors owed a duty not only to the minor purchaser but “ ‘to members of the general public as well.’ ” Id. at 476 (quoting Purchase, 108 Wn.2d at 228). In light of the purpose of the legislation, which is to prevent against the hazard of “ ‘alcohol in the hands of minors,’ ” we found it was arbitrary to draw a distinction between third persons injured by the intoxicated minor purchaser and those injured as a result of the minor purchaser sharing the alcohol with other minors. Id. at 476 (quoting Hansen v. Friend, 118 Wn.2d 476, 481-82, 824 P.2d 483 (1992)). We found this distinction especially illogical when faced with the fact that minors who drink commonly do so with other minors. Id. at 476.

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Bluebook (online)
134 Wash. 2d 509, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crowe-v-gaston-wash-1998.