Casebolt v. Cowan
| Decision Date | 23 November 1990 |
| Docket Number | No. 89CA1920,89CA1920 |
| Citation | 809 P.2d 1080 |
| Parties | Susan CASEBOLT, as Mother and Next Friend of Lauren Casebolt and Lindsey Casebolt; and Susan Casebolt, Individually, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. William COWAN, Individually, and Milco Construction Company, Defendants-Appellees. . C |
| Court | Colorado Court of Appeals |
Law Offices of Robert A. Weinberger, P.C., Robert A. Weinberger, Debra Seeley, Denver, for plaintiffs-appellants.
Johnson, Oldham & Angell, P.C., Richard Lee Angell, Denver, for defendants-appellees.
Opinion by Judge RULAND.
Plaintiff, Susan Casebolt, individually and as next friend for Lauren Casebolt and Lindsey Casebolt, appeals from a summary judgment dismissing her claims against defendants, William Cowan and Milco Construction Company, for the death of her husband. We affirm.
Cowan was the president and owned all of the outstanding stock of Milco Construction Company, now defunct. At the time of his death, the decedent was employed by Milco as a cement finisher, and Milco was then involved in a construction project in Idaho Springs.
On the day before his death, the decedent requested and received permission from Cowan to use Cowan's car to travel to the job site from Denver. The next day, the decedent arrived for work at the scheduled time and the project was completed by noon. Immediately after finishing the job, Cowan, the decedent, and other employees of Milco each consumed one beer furnished by the project owner.
Cowan, the decedent, and the employees then met for lunch at a restaurant. One pitcher of beer was consumed before and during the meal which Cowan equated to approximately one beer for each individual. The decedent and the employees decided to have an additional beer following lunch and were seated at the bar when Cowan left at approximately 1:00 p.m.
According to an uncontroverted affidavit by a waitress at the restaurant, the decedent returned to the restaurant at approximately 5:00 p.m. and did not appear to be intoxicated. The decedent's whereabouts from that time until 6:30 p.m. are unknown.
At approximately 6:30 p.m. the decedent left Idaho Springs in Cowan's vehicle and was headed eastbound in the westbound lanes of I-70 when he became involved in a collision which caused the fatal injuries. The decedent had a substantial blood alcohol content at the time of the accident.
In his deposition, Cowan acknowledged that he attended a party in 1986, which was also attended by the decedent and a number of other employees of Milco. At that party, the decedent consumed a substantial amount of beer and became combative with other patrons at a bar. Later, the decedent became involved in a fight with another employee which was apparently prompted by alcohol consumption.
According to an uncontroverted affidavit by a former Milco employee, Cowan discussed the decedent's drinking with this employee after the 1986 incident. Cowan acknowledged that the decedent suffered a personality change even after consuming a small amount of alcohol, and he instructed certain employees not to take the decedent drinking because he drank excessively and became uncontrollable.
In her...
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Casebolt v. Cowan, 91SC69
...owed no duty to Casebolt to protect him from his own abuse of alcohol. The Colorado Court of Appeals affirmed. Casebolt v. Cowan, 809 P.2d 1080 (Colo.App.1990). We conclude that summary judgment was improper because genuine issues of material fact must be resolved before it can be determine......
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Chapter 3 - § 3.4 • ISSUES RELATING TO LIABILITY AND DAMAGES IN LITIGATION OF MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT CLAIMS
...to a person who negligently entrusts a vehicle to another. Casebolt v. Cowan, 829 P.2d 352 (Colo. 1992), reversing Casebolt v. Cowan, 809 P.2d 1080 (Colo. App. 1990). Casebolt v. Cowan, 829 P.2d 352 (Colo. 1992), was a wrongful death action arising from a motor vehicle accident. The deceden......