Social host responsibility

Tom -

I am a member of a club, and we have had discussions about this from time to time. I'm not a lawyer, but I don't believe the law on this is cut and dried - if nothing else, it will vary from state to state. However, I don't believe that disclaimers, waivers, etc. between members of the club would be of much use. The exposure here would be the potential liability to a third party, injured by a club member or guest after a club event. No amount of legal agreements between the club members would prevent an injured third party from suing those involved (although proving negligence might be harder, depending on the facts of the case).

This is precisely what "dram-shop" insurance is designed to cover, so that is one potential solution. Bars and liquor stores pretty much have to go that route, but it's expensive. Aside from that, I don't believe there is any particular "safe-harbor" rule or documentation that would be guaranteed to protect you from liability. The best I can come up with is to use good-faith efforts to assure that nobody sells or serves alcohol to a member who appears to be intoxicated. Our club, for example, has purchased a breathalyzer machine, and we have made this available to members at meetings, in cases where they weren't sure they were legal to drive. Something like that, along with periodic reminders of club policy on avoiding potential drunk driving situations, would help refute claims of negligence. They are no guarantee, of course, and sympathies in court are more often with the injured party, but that's the best I've been able to come up with.

Doug

I agree with Doug. If you are worried about personal liability look into a personal liability umbrella policy. One can purchase a couple of million in coverage for $200-300. Steve (retired, paranoid insurance adjuster)

I formed a group in Idaho in 2000 which still going strong. I looked for a long time before taking the first step. At that time there was a group of clubs in Oregon, Idaho, and Washington called the Oenological Society of the Pacific Northwest with chapters in Portland, Seattle, Yakima, Moscow, and about 10 other cities. They banded together to carry a group policy for members and another for officers and directors. In 2003 the insurance companies required that the policies be split by state. We shopped many companies and found a local office of Allstate who now provides us both forms of coverage at an affordable rate.

If you charge for tastings, even if only to break even, you could be found liable. I suggest prudence, CYA!

ted