Lawsuit against Lucas Oil Stadium beer vendor can move forward, court rules
A lawsuit that claims the beer vendor at Lucas Oil Stadium overserved an intoxicated Colts fan who hit and killed a child as he drove home from a game can move forward, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.
“I’m really glad that I’ll be able to have a day in court for my daughter,” Betina Pierson told The Indianapolis Star. “She deserves more than to be just another statistic.”
Tierra Rae Pierson, 12, was killed and her cousin, January Canada, also 12, was injured when a vehicle driven by Trenton Gaff struck them as the girls walked along Bluff Road just north of Southport Road on Dec. 19, 2010.
The lawsuit alleges South Carolina-based Centerplate, the food and beverage provider for Lucas Oil Stadium, “negligently failed to train, instruct, monitor and restrict the sale of alcoholic beverages to visibly intoxicated persons,” including Gaff.
In September 2011, Gaff — who told police he had five beers at the Colts game and one more after the game — pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle with a blood-alcohol content of 0.15 percent or higher causing death, a Class B felony, and operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a misdemeanor.
But last year, Marion Superior Court Judge Robert Altice Jr. granted Centerplate’s request for a summary judgment. His ruling said there was no evidence that a Centerplate employee or designee — the company uses trained volunteers from nonprofit groups — served alcohol to Gaff while he was visibly intoxicated. Also, according to the ruling, there was no evidence that alcohol provided by Centerplate was a proximate cause of the accident.
The Court of Appeals order reversed that ruling. It said “reasonable inferences to be drawn from the designated materials could permit a fact-finder to conclude that a Centerplate designee served Gaff beer while knowing him to be visibly intoxicated.”
The case will now go back to Marion Superior Court, unless Centerplate challenges the Court of Appeals decision to the Indiana Supreme Court.
Centerplate’s attorney, Michael Moon, said the company is considering an appeal.
Centerplate operates in more than 300 sports, entertainment and convention venues in North America and the United Kingdom, according to its website. That includes nine National Football League stadiums, including those in San Francisco, New Orleans, San Diego and Washington, D.C.
At Lucas Oil Stadium, Centerplate pays the volunteers a commission of 8 percent on alcohol and 9 percent on food that goes to their nonprofit organization. The more the volunteers sell, the more they earn for their group.
The practice is common. Sports venues across the nation use volunteers in their concession areas.
Supporters say the practice allows nonprofits to earn money for community service work. Critics say it encourages these volunteers to overserve.
This ruling, Pierson’s lawyer hopes, will put those volunteers on notice.
“This decision, I suspect, is going to have ramifications across the country,” Daniel Chamberlain said.
“Is it fair that people go to a Colts game, get drunk and drive home? It exposes everybody, innocent consumers and kids and families, to drunk drivers.”
Call Star reporter Vic Ryckaert at (317) 444-2701. Follow him on Twitter: @VicRyc.