After a judge approved Robert Nunez II’s case to sue two bars that served him alcohol before he drove drunk and severed his spinal cord, city officials and bars are saying Nunez — who used a fake ID to get served alcohol — should also be held responsible.
Suffolk Superior Court Judge Ralph Gants ruled in early October, allowing Nunez to sue Carrabba’s Italian Grill and The Palace by showing that the bars that served him drinks were negligent.
Nunez, who was 19 years old at the time of the May 2002 crash, said he drank six glasses of vodka and soda at Carrabba’s Italian Grill, where he used to work. He had two more drinks at The Palace, where employees also knew him, according to Newton’s Daily News Tribune.
According to Daniel Pokaski, chairman of the Boston Licensing Board, this is a civil case. Pokaski said there were two violations in this case, because it is illegal to serve anyone who is intoxicated, and it is also illegal to serve alcohol to minors.
Pokaski said the bartender must check for a valid Massachusetts identification, a passport or a state-issued driving license. He added that the bartender should have been aware that Nunez was intoxicated before serving him, but noted that sometimes it is not a clear line.
“There are cases where someone is at a bar, they have one or two beers, and they fall down drunk,” he said. “How would you have known? It would be wrong to hold the bar owner responsible for situations like that.
“It appears to me that [Nunez’s] bad actions — by willfully producing a false ID, getting served alcohol and knowing it was illegal — he suffered some damage and because of his actions, he is paralyzed,” Pokaski said. He added that he thinks Nunez is looking for damages to cover the expensive lifestyle of a paraplegic.
Denise Suggin, a bartender at An Tua Nua on Beacon Street, said she is aware of the law that bars cannot serve alcohol to customers who are already intoxicated.
“If he was intoxicated, then I don’t think he should have been served,” she said. “But at the same time, he didn’t need to order another drink.”
According to Suggin, An Tua Nua is firm about checking and scanning IDs and asking for backup IDs.
She said that the bar that served Nunez should not be held responsible for serving underage people if the person who checked his ID thought it was legitimate.
City Councilor-At-Large Stephen Murphy said because Nunez used “fraudulent means,” he — rather than the bar — should be held responsible. But Murphy said there may have been contributory negligence from the bar, adding that the primary goal of bars is to sell as much as they can.
“Nobody wants to take responsibility for anything anymore [in our society],” he said.
David DeIuliis, spokesman for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said part of the organization’s mission is to prevent underage drunken drinking and added that Nunez was not wearing a seatbelt when he became injured.
DeIuliis said MADD’s research has revealed that one in 10 establishments serve underage people without carding.
“I do think that it does highlight the fact that underage drinking still is a problem here, and that people who are underage are still getting served in establishments,” he said. “I don’t believe there is any uniform training in Massachusetts to identify a fake ID, but we should have it.”
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