DiOssi v. Maroney

Citation548 A.2d 1361
PartiesDion T. DiOSSI, Plaintiff Below, Appellant, v. C. Ronald MARONEY, Eleanor S. Maroney and Secretariat Limited, Defendants Below, Appellees. . Submitted:
Decision Date07 June 1988
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Delaware

Arthur Inden, Alison Whitmer Tumas and Bruce L. Silverstein (argued) of Young, Conaway, Stargatt & Taylor, Wilmington, for appellant Dion T. DiOssi.

F. Alton Tybout (argued) and Nancy E. Chrissinger of Tybout, Redfearn, Casarino & Pell, Wilmington, for appellees C. Ronald Maroney and Eleanor S. Maroney.

Richard P.S. Hannum of Prickett, Jones, Elliott, Kristol & Schnee, Wilmington, for appellee Secretariat Ltd.

Before HORSEY, WALSH and DUFFY (Retired), JJ.

WALSH, Justice:

This is an appeal from the grant of summary judgment in the Superior Court in favor of a social host of a private party at which plaintiff Dion T. DiOssi was injured. The Superior Court ruled that the social hosts, C. Ronald Maroney and Eleanor S. Maroney ("the Maroneys") owed no duty to provide safe premises to plaintiff, a parking valet, who was struck by an automobile operated by an intoxicated guest at a party hosted by the Maroneys. Secretariat Limited, a social consultant who advised the Maroneys concerning arrangements for the party and a codefendant in the court below, was also granted summary judgment as the Maroneys' agent. 1

The Superior Court ruled, in effect, that the Maroneys' responsibility as social hosts, for the tortious conduct of an intoxicated guest is to be measured by the decisional standards which govern tavern owners. We disagree with this conclusion and hold that, under the circumstances of this case, the duty of a social host is not so limited and the grant of summary judgment was erroneous as a matter of law.

I

We view the facts, as did the Superior Court, from a perspective which favors plaintiff as the nonmovant, resisting a motion for summary judgment. Ebersole v. Lowengrub, Del.Supr., 180 A.2d 467, 470 (1962). On the date of his injury, the plaintiff was a part-time employee of Ryan's Parking Service which was under contract with the Maroneys to provide valet parking service for guests at a debutante party given by the Maroneys, at their home, for their 18 year old daughter. Of the 800 guests invited to the party, approximately 275 were classmates and friends of Ms. Maroney and known to be under the legal age for drinking alcoholic beverages. 2

The Maroneys employed Secretariat Limited ("Secretariat") as a social consultant to render advice and planning for the party. Secretariat's function was to help compile a guest list, send invitations, and make arrangements for other services provided at the party. The Maroneys engaged the Wilmington Club to provide food and beverage service for the party.

Approximately six weeks before the event the Maroneys and representatives of Secretariat and the Wilmington Club held a planning session. Among the topics discussed was the problem of underage drinking--an expected occurrence in view of the large number of young guests. It was agreed that the bartenders and waitresses furnished by the Wilmington Club would monitor service of alcoholic beverages to prevent service to underage guests. Additionally, Secretariat recommended the adoption of several measures to control underage drinking including the establishment of soft drink bars, the stopping of alcoholic beverage service one hour before the end of the party and the hiring of a uniformed off duty police officer to be stationed at the front of the home to prevent any guest from leaving "who is not in [a] condition to drive."

The Maroneys deny receiving explicit warnings about the need for a police officer present to deter drinking drivers, and instead employed plain clothes police officers to circulate among the guests for security purposes. These officers were not requested to monitor underage drinking, as such, but to prevent disorderly behavior. Although there is some disagreement between Secretariat and the Maroneys concerning the expected role of the police employed for the occasion, for summary judgment purposes the plaintiff is entitled to the assumption that Secretariat's recommendations were conveyed to the Maroneys.

According to the police report the accident which resulted in plaintiff's injuries occurred at approximately 4:30 a.m. 3 when James Edison, 19 years of age, lost control of his car, ran off the driveway, struck a tree and hit the plaintiff who was standing near the home entrance. Edison carried plaintiff on the hood of his car for a distance before plaintiff was thrown to the ground. The car proceeded to strike another tree and a parked vehicle on the Maroney property before it came to rest.

Prior to the accident, Edison had been observed "wandering around aimlessly" by an acquaintance who had offered to assist him in finding his car. After an unsuccessful search through the parking area, this witness returned Edison to the Maroney house because the witness "didn't think it was right" for Edison to drive. Another witness believing Edison to be under the influence had offered to drive him home but Edison refused. The police report indicates that Edison registered .15 on a field test for blood alcohol concentration--fifty percent greater than the statutory standard for driving under the influence of alcohol. 4 21 Del.C. § 4177. According to the deposition testimony of one witness, some young guests were served alcoholic beverages at the party without the bartenders checking their age.

II

In that portion of the complaint directed against the Maroneys and Secretariat, plaintiff alleges carelessness in the planning and administration of the party in "causing or allowing minors ... to become intoxicated, [and] creating an unreasonable hazard" to plaintiff (Complaint Count II). Plaintiff also alleges that the Maroneys permitted and maintained a "dangerous condition" on their property by reason of the uncontrolled dispensing of alcoholic beverages to underaged drinkers. (Complaint Count III). In the Superior Court the plaintiff, in resisting summary judgment, argued that his claim against the Maroneys was not based merely on the illegal provision of alcoholic beverages to minors but on the Maroneys' failure to protect him from a dangerous condition on their property.

In granting defendants' motion for summary judgment the Superior Court relied on this Court's opinion in Wright v. Moffitt, Del.Supr., 437 A.2d 554 (1981). The Superior Court construed Wright to mean that there is no cause of action against a person who serves alcoholic beverages to another who thereafter commits a tort. Specifically, the Superior Court ruled that social hosts who serve alcohol to a minor who then injures a third person, (as a result of consuming that alcohol), do not have a legal obligation to the person thus damaged. In our opinion, that reads too much into Wright.

In Wright, the plaintiff had been a patron at a tavern operated by the defendant and plaintiff had been served alcoholic beverages during a period of approximately six hours, even after he had become intoxicated. After leaving the tavern the plaintiff, while attempting to walk across a public highway, was struck by a passing vehicle. The patron then sued the tavern operator for the personal injuries he sustained. On appeal, the plaintiff argued that this Court should create a cause of action for him against the defendant, even though the claim would be based in significant part, at least, on his own voluntary intoxication. We declined to do so.

In Wright this Court made two rulings: (1) based on its legislative history, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, 4 Del.C. §§ 711 and 713, does not create a private right of action; and (2) a private right of action premised upon "Dram Shop" principles should not be judicially created because, in Delaware, the alcoholic beverage industry has been traditionally governed by legislation and the wisdom of such a public policy, because of its implications for others including social hosts, should more appropriately be considered by the General Assembly.

We agree with the Superior Court that, in this case as in Wright, intoxication appears to be a contributing cause to the personal injuries which are alleged. We also agree that Wright has implications in any action against a dispenser of alcoholic beverages. But it does not follow that the holding in Wright forecloses the liability of everyone who serves alcohol to an intoxicated person. As we observed in Wright, there are public policy concerns in litigation in which the dispensation of alcohol is a factor affecting liability, including that of a social host. The empirical data on which state policy should be based can best be evaluated by the General Assembly and then reflected in its legislation. But, in the absence of action by the General Assembly (and there has been none on this subject since Wright was decided in 1981), we must decide this case not only by reference to the laws governing the dispensation of alcoholic beverages as such but also to other principles of law which are relevant to the record before us.

Here, the injuries which the plaintiff alleges occurred on property owned and occupied by the Maroneys. It is undisputed that the plaintiff was a business invitee who was on the property to provide service for which the Maroneys had contracted. Under settled Delaware law the Maroneys owed the plaintiff a duty to exercise reasonable care to protect him from foreseeable dangers that he might encounter while on the premises. The required analysis, therefore, begins with an examination of the duty of a property owner under these circumstances.

III

It is argued that the liability of a social host dispensing alcoholic beverages should, as a matter of policy, be no greater than that of a commercial dispenser. The liability of commercial vendors of alcohol, however, has been traditionally treated through...

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