Montgomery Ex Rel. Montgomery v. Kali Orexi, LLC

303 S.W.3d 281, 2009 Tenn. App. LEXIS 123, 2009 WL 837711
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedMarch 27, 2009
DocketE2008-01207-COA-R3-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 303 S.W.3d 281 (Montgomery Ex Rel. Montgomery v. Kali Orexi, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Montgomery Ex Rel. Montgomery v. Kali Orexi, LLC, 303 S.W.3d 281, 2009 Tenn. App. LEXIS 123, 2009 WL 837711 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

OPINION

CHARLES D. SUSANO, JR., J.,

delivered the opinion of the court,

in which HERSCHEL P. FRANKS, P.J., and D. MICHAEL SWINEY, J„ joined.

In this wrongful death action, Edwina Montgomery (“the Plaintiff’), individually and as the surviving spouse of Thomas M. Montgomery (“the Deceased”), brought suit under the Tennessee Dram Shop Act (“the Dram Shop Act” or “the Act”), Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 57-10-101 and 102 (2002). The Plaintiff also sued for negligence and negligence per se. 1 The Plaintiff sued Kali Orexi, LLC, which operates under the trade name of Gondolier Italian Restaurant and Pizza (“Gondolier”). Gondolier moved for summary judgment, which was granted as to all theories of recovery. We affirm the summary judgment on what appears to be an issue of first impression. We hold that Tenn.Code Ann. §§ 57-10-101 and 102 (2002) apply to third parties and do not authorize an action against a seller of an “alcoholic beverage or beer” by or on behalf of the supplied, or “first” party. Since the Dram Shop Act does not address first parties, its enactment leaves the law as to first parties as it existed before the Act’s enactment. In addition, under the circumstances of this case, the trial court correctly held that the injuries to the Deceased were not foreseeable; thus, Gondolier owed the Deceased no duty. Furthermore, even if a duty were owed, it was not breached. The question whether the actions of the Deceased and a taxi driver, who was paid by Gondolier to take the intoxicated Deceased home, were intervening and superseding causes that relieve Gondolier of liability are not addressed since we hold that the Plaintiff had no cause of action under the Dram Shop Act or for common law negligence. Accordingly, we affirm. 2

I.

Viewing the evidence, and all reasonable inferences to be drawn from it, in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, 1.e., the Plaintiff, we state the facts that are pertinent to this appeal by quoting the Plaintiff, as follows:

On June 24, 2006, [the Deceased] was a customer at [Gondolier] in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. While at [Gondolier], [the Deceased] was served alcoholic beverages and became extremely intoxicated. Gondolier staff later summoned Ken Kirkland, a local taxi cab driver, to take the Deceased home from the restaurant. Upon first contact with [the Deceased], Mr. Kirkland observed that [the Deceased] was intoxicated. Mr. Kirkland testified that [the Deceased] exhibited physical symptoms of intoxication, such as “slurred speech, unable to stand, very wobbly when he moved.” Mr. Kirkland described [the Deceased] as being “extremely intoxicated.”
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Shortly after departing from Gondolier, [the Deceased] informed Mr. Kirkland that he did not want to go home, and that he wanted Mr. Kirkland to take him *284 back to the Gondolier. As Mr. Kirkland continued to drive towards the area [where the Deceased] resided, [the Deceased] grabbed the steering wheel of the cab, causing the cab to veer into the other lane of the roadway. Mr. Kirkland testified that in response he “slapped his hand away” and “hit the brakes and moved over to the side of the road.”
After a brief discussion [in which Mr. Kirkland warned the Deceased not to grab the steering wheel again], Mr. Kirkland resumed driving towards the area in which [the Deceased] resided. Shortly thereafter, [the Deceased] again stated that he did not want to go to his house, and wanted to return to the Gondolier. At which time, [the Deceased] grabbed at the cab’s steering wheel a second time. Mr. Kirkland testified that at that time he pushed [the Deceased] back towards the passenger seat and pulled the cab over onto the side of the road and turned off the vehicle’s engine. Mr. Kirkland exited the cab and went to the passenger side to remove [the Deceased] from the vehicle.
[[Image here]]
As he was driving away, Mr. Kirkland placed a telephone call to 911, and informed the operator that he had put a “very drunk” man out of his cab and left him on the side of the road. The Sevier County Sheriffs Department responded to the 911 call, but was unable to locate [the Deceased] at the location described by Mr. Kirkland.
On June 26, 2006, [the Deceased’s] body was located by the Sevier County Sheriffs Department in a river underneath a bridge on Highway 321 in Sevier County....
Autopsy test results revealed that [the Deceased] was heavily intoxicated at the time of his death. [The Deceased’s] blood alcohol content was measured at .37%. The attending pathologist listed the cause of death as blunt force trauma injuries sustained by [the Deceased] when he fell from a bridge.

II.

The issues presented are as follows:

Whether a cause of action under Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-10-102 against a seller of an “alcoholic beverage or beer” is available to the Deceased or his representative, who is not a third party, but was himself the consumer of the alcohol.
Whether the enactment of Tenn.Code Ann. §§ 57-10-101 and 102 changed the common law with respect to liability of furnishers of alcohol or beer to an intoxicated person who injures himself.
Whether the Trial Court was correct in holding as a matter of law that the Deceased’s injuries were so unforeseeable that no legal duty arose on the part of Gondolier.
Whether the Trial Court was correct in holding as a matter of law that if Gondolier had a duty, it fulfilled it.
Whether the Trial Court was correct in holding as a matter of law that the actions of the Deceased and Mr. Kirkland constitute intervening superseding acts that relieved Gondolier of liability.

III.

Our review of the matters on this appeal is de novo. Tenn. R.App. P. 13(d). See Blair v. West Town Mall, 130 S.W.3d 761, 763 (Tenn.2004). Our inquiry under Tenn.Code Ann. §§ 57-10-101 and 102 involves a construction of those statutes. “ ‘[Construction of [a] statute and application of law to the facts [are questions] of law.’ ” Worley v. Weigels, Inc., 919 S.W.2d 589, 592 (Tenn.1996) (quoting Beare Co. v. Tennessee Dept. of Rev., 858 S.W.2d 906, *285 907 (Tenn.1993)).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
303 S.W.3d 281, 2009 Tenn. App. LEXIS 123, 2009 WL 837711, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/montgomery-ex-rel-montgomery-v-kali-orexi-llc-tennctapp-2009.