Salas v. Clements

• Decision Date: 07 January 1975
• Docket Number: No. 1,Docket No. 17779,1
• Citation: 57 Mich.App. 367,226 N.W.2d 101
• Parties: Rafael SALAS, Jr., and Gilbert Garza, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Mary E. CLEMENTS d/b/a Memory Club Bar, Defendant-Appellee
• Court: Court of Appeal of Michigan — District of US

Page 101

226 N.W.2d 101

57 Mich.App. 367

Rafael SALAS, Jr., and Gilbert Garza, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Mary E. CLEMENTS d/b/a Memory Club Bar, Defendant-Appellee.

Docket No. 17779.

Court of Appeals of Michigan, Division No. 1.

Jan. 7, 1975.

Released for Publication Feb. 21, 1975.

Michael H. Feiler, Lopatin, Ward, Miller, Bindes & Freedman, Detroit, for plaintiffs-appellants.

Frederick S. Van Tiem, Baun, Barton & Van Tiem, Harper Woods, for defendant-appellee.

Before BASHARA, P.J., and DANHOF and VanVALKENBURG,* JJ.

DANHOF, Judge.

Plaintiffs filed suit against the defendant tavern owner seeking to recover under the dramshop act M.C.L.A. § 436.22, M.S.A. § 18.993, and also for violation of the common-law duty to maintain safe premises for business invitees. Defendant's motion for a summary judgment of dismissal as to that part of the complaint brought under the act was granted. Plaintiffs appeal, and we affirm.

During the early morning hours of November 23, 1973, plaintiffs were assaulted and injured by an unknown person while in defendant's tavern. Plaintiffs allege that this person was intoxicated at the time of the attack, and that while he was in this condition, he was served intoxicating liquor. Because plaintiffs were unable to ascertain the identity of this person, he was not named a defendant in this action as required by a provision of 1972 P.A. 196 amending the dramshop act. Consequently, the trial court granted the defendant's motion for failure of the plaintiffs to comply with this statutory requirement.

The dramshop act was amended by 1972 P.A. 196 effective June 29, 1972 to provide in part:

'No action against a retailer or wholesaler or anyone covered by this act or his surety, shall be commenced unless the minor or the alleged intoxicated person is a named defendant in the action and is retained in the action until the litigation is concluded by trial or settlement.'

Plaintiffs argue that this 'name and retain' amendment is unconstitutional as a violation of both the equal protection and due process provisions of the Michigan and Federal constitutions. Their equal protection argument is premised upon the assertion that the statute as amended arbitrarily creates two classes of injured persons, and then distinguishes unreasonably between them. According to this theory, impermissible discrimination results because an injured plaintiff who knows the identity of the intoxicated person can bring an action under the act, while an injured plaintiff who does not have this information cannot bring such an action. Plaintiffs contend that the creation of these classifications by the practical application of the amended statute runs contrary to the purpose of the act and imposes a capricious distinction which denies equal protection of the law.

The equal protection quaranty of the Michigan Constitution, Const.1963, art. 1, § 2, is applied under the same standards as the corresponding provision of the Federal Constitution. Fox v. Employment Security Commission, 379 Mich. 579, 153 N.W.2d 644 (1967). The Legislature is permitted a wide range of discretion to enact laws treating some individuals differently than others. A statement of the applicable standard appears in McGowan v. Maryland, 366 U.S. 420, 425--426, 81 S.Ct. 1101, 1105, 6 L.Ed.2d 393 (1961), and has been adopted in Wolodzko v. Wayne Circuit Judge, 382 Mich. 528, 533--534, 170 N.W.2d 9 (1969); Busha v. Department of State Highways, 51 Mich.App. 397, 400, 215 N.W.2d 567 (1974), and in Kriger v. South Oakland County Mutual Aid Pact, 49 Mich.App. 7, 211 N.W.2d 228 (1973):

'The constitutional safeguard is offended only if the classification rests on grounds wholly irrelevant to the achievement of the State's objective. State legislatures are presumed to have acted within their constitutional power despite the fact that, in practice, their laws result in some inequality. A statutory discrimination will not be set aside if any state of facts reasonably may be conceived to justify it.'

When challenging a statute on the ground that it denies equal protection, a very heavy burden of proof must be met. Where the allegedly infirm law neither creates a fundamental right nor invidiously discriminates against a suspect class, the law will be sustained if any rational basis for the distinction can be found. Busha v. Department of State Highways, Supra. Having discovered a rational basis, the wisdom of the classification will not be questioned by the courts. Pusquilian v. Cedar Point, Inc., 41 Mich.App. 399, 200 N.W.2d 489 (1972), lv. den. 388 Mich. 776 (1972). Rather, every reasonable presumption in favor of the validity of the statute will be indulged. Holland Motor Express, Inc. v. Michigan Employment Security Commission, 42 Mich.App. 19, 201 N.W.2d 308 (1972). Thus, if there is any reasonable relation between the classification and a legitimate state interest, no denial of equal protection will be found. Busha v. Department of State Highways, Supra; Dymmel v. State Cemetery Commission, 49 Mich.App. 419, 212 N.W.2d 237 (1973), lv. den. 391 Mich. 760 (1974).

The 'name and retain' provision will, to some extent, reduce tavern-owner liability by restricting recourse to the dramshop act. The provision will eliminate the common practice whereby the intoxicated person enters into a settlement with the injured plaintiff for a token sum, and thereafter energetically assists the plaintiff with the prosecution of a suit against the tavern owner. The provision will also discourage possible collusion and perjury by those too weak to resist the obvious temptation inherent in the original dramshop act which has now been recognized by the Legislature and corrected through this amendment.

These considerations constitute a rational basis for the enactment of the 'name and retain' portion of the amendment. The distinction that arises as a practical consequence of the implementation of the 'name and retain' provision is reasonably related to legitimate state interests. Therefore, that part of the amended act does not create an arbitrary classification in violation of the equal protection guarantees.

The challenged section of the act can also be sustained on other grounds. The 'name and retain' feature imposes a requirement on those who use the act which is procedural in nature. See Koehler v. DRT Sportservice, Inc., 55 Mich.App. 567, 223 N.W.2d 461 (1974). This procedural requirement applies to each and every person who seeks to bring an action under the dramshop act; it does not discriminate against any particular class or group of people. 'It is a general rule that equal protection of the law is not denied by a course of procedure which is applied to legal proceedings in which a particular person is affected, if such a course would also be applied to any other person in the state under similar circumstances and conditions.' Wood v. County of Jackson, 463 S.W.2d 834, 835 (Mo.1971), as quoted in Busha v. Department of State Highways,...