Bartender Fired for Calling Cops on Customer...

[username]

SHELBY, Ohio - An Ohio bartender is now looking for a new job after she was fired for calling the police on a bar patron.

Twyla Devito was bartending at an American Legion Post when she called police after she saw a man leaving drunk. According CNN, Devito said she came into work that day and saw the man, who was a regular at the bar, already hammered.

"He ordered a beer, I gave it to him, and then I started to try to slow it down, serving him," she told CNN.

When he left the bar, she called police. Officers later charged the man with an OVI or Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence, after blowing a .16, which is twice the legal limit.

Two days later, Devito's boss fired her saying that it was bad for the business to have a bartender that would call the cops on customers.

Devito says she stands by her decision.

What do you think?

Source:

http://www.10news.com/news/watercooler/b...hio-022713

[HairOfTheDog]

It is bad for business to call the cops on regulars.

But, sometimes it's necessary.

If the bartender first attempted to get the drunken regular a ride or a cab and he instead insisted on driving himself home, then I think the bartender did the right thing by calling the cops and reporting the regular as DUI (and the firing is unjustified).

[username]

If this was the first time she did it, I definitely think firing her was over the top. However, it is bad for business.

I wonder what the laws are with regards to serving in Ohio. If the guy had gone out and killed somebody, could the bar have been held liable? If so, she did the owner a favor.

[Paulistano]

I think it is completely fucking ridiculous calling the police on drunk people. Totally and completely over the fucking top........unless they are driving cars drunk.

Unfortunately the person was stupid enough not to report it anonymously.

[JsMom]

If you're a "snitch" (Ohio slang) then maybe you shouldn't work at a bar. Now, if the drunk man was acting violently or touching the ladies then I could see possibly calling the police. Here in TN the bar is held reliable if someone leaves wasted and wrecks. (IF) That person says they got drunk at the bar or I just left the bar. I don't know too many people that can say they've never drove drunk. I bet that Bitch has. Shit! Just my 2 cents.

[HairOfTheDog]

If you're a bartender and you knowingly let a patron drive home drunk, you leave yourself and the bar owner open to being sued if the patron injures/kills himself or someone else on the road. It happens. The litigant may well fail in attempting to sue the bartender or owner depending on the local laws and circumstances, but it's still time/cost in court, bad for reputation, etc...

There are policies and courses of action for how to handle these situations at bars, at least the ones where my friends tend and where I've occasionally bar-backed over the last 15 years. In the case of the OP, it's possible that the bartender didn't follow those policies and/or use common sense and make reasonable attempts to stop the regular from getting behind the wheel before calling the cops. However, if there were no policies in place and the bartender tried everything within her power to stop the regular from getting behind the wheel, I don't think the firing is justified and the BT may have saved lives and/or protected herself and the bar from litigation. There aren't a lot of background facts in the OP article.

P.s. I'm not minimizing the dangers of driving drunk, it's obviously a serious problem. 40,000 people a year die in car accidents as a result of drunk drivers.

[ramseycat]

She should have called him a cab and stopped serving him. Maybe there is more to the story. It's weird that she just let this guy leave drunk and then called the cops on him

[RaisingAPrince]

I'm pretty sure if he had gotten in an accident (killed himself or someone else) the bar would be held liable for serving him.

No idea how credible this website is but it talks about Ohio's dram shop laws.

http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/ar...-laws.html

"Dram shop acts, or dram shop laws, are laws which are designed to make business establishments liable for the injuries or damages caused by persons to whom they have sold alcohol. For example, if a bar or tavern sells alcohol to a patron, and that patron then injures someone in a car accident, the dram shop law allows the plaintiff to recover damages from the bar as well as the intoxicated person."

I personally think it's kind of ridiculous to fire her. How do they know she didn't try to stop him and he wouldn't listen. Maybe she was just trying to help keep the guy safe, and knowing how intoxicated he was, she knew him leaving (driving) was a bad idea.

I agree that there needs to be more details shared in order to form a good opinion.

[Duchess]

I wouldn't hangout & spend my money there ever again. I'd always wonder if she would call the cops on me...even if it were the right thing to do.

[username]

Should bartenders and wait staff count drinks? What if someone doesn't appear terribly inebriated but you know they've had 5 cocktails in a row?

[Tasmanian]

The area I live in holds the bar legally responsible if they pick up drunk drivers and find out they last were drinking at the bar, sooooo here it is almost expected.

[ramseycat]

It's difficult to actually prosecute a bar though. Did the patron arrive intoxicated? How many drinks did they consume in that particular bar? What if the bar called the patron a cab and he went outside and got into his own vehicle instead? There are too many what ifs

A case I worked on our insured had been drinking at home with her sister in law. They went to a 24 hour Walmart to buy more beer. The cashier sold it to them. On the way back home our insured hit a tree. Her SIL was ejected and killed. Should Walmart be charged for selling them alcohol when they were obviously drunk? Should the cashier let them leave?

Responsibity falls on the person drinking.

[Tasmanian]

It's difficult to actually prosecute a bar though. Did the patron arrive intoxicated? How many drinks did they consume in that particular bar? What if the bar called the patron a cab and he went outside and got into his own vehicle instead? There are too many what ifs

A case I worked on our insured had been drinking at home with her sister in law. They went to a 24 hour Walmart to buy more beer. The cashier sold it to them. On the way back home our insured hit a tree. Her SIL was ejected and killed. Should Walmart be charged for selling them alcohol when they were obviously drunk? Should the cashier let them leave?

Responsibity falls on the person drinking.

Oh I agree, but I live in a very "liberal" area.

[RaisingAPrince]

It's difficult to actually prosecute a bar though. Did the patron arrive intoxicated? How many drinks did they consume in that particular bar? What if the bar called the patron a cab and he went outside and got into his own vehicle instead? There are too many what ifs

A case I worked on our insured had been drinking at home with her sister in law. They went to a 24 hour Walmart to buy more beer. The cashier sold it to them. On the way back home our insured hit a tree. Her SIL was ejected and killed. Should Walmart be charged for selling them alcohol when they were obviously drunk? Should the cashier let them leave?

Responsibity falls on the person drinking.

I think the difference with the Wal Mart situation is they sold beer that the people were taking away. At a bar, you order a drink to drink at the bar. It is the responsibility of the bartender to judge if the customer has has too much to drink and they are responsible for refusing to serve them.

[crash]

Now, if the drunk man was acting violently or touching the ladies then I could see possibly calling the police.

Because those things are so much worse than driving drunk and running over someone's loved one. Would you be saying the same thing about her if someone you loved had been killed by a drunk driver?

[Midwest Spy]

If you're a "snitch" (Ohio slang) then maybe you shouldn't work at a bar. Now, if the drunk man was acting violently or touching the ladies then I could see possibly calling the police.

Who can forget Kirby Puckett's finest hour?

The future baseball hall of famer was drunk and groping women near the ladies restroom 10 years ago at an area bar.

It was the beginning of an unceremonious end for Puckett, who physically resembled Jabba the Hutt when he died shortly after the groping incident.

A man who had been the most beloved athlete this state has ever known had completely shot himself in the foot, and tarnished his legacy forever.

[ramseycat]

It's difficult to actually prosecute a bar though. Did the patron arrive intoxicated? How many drinks did they consume in that particular bar? What if the bar called the patron a cab and he went outside and got into his own vehicle instead? There are too many what ifs

A case I worked on our insured had been drinking at home with her sister in law. They went to a 24 hour Walmart to buy more beer. The cashier sold it to them. On the way back home our insured hit a tree. Her SIL was ejected and killed. Should Walmart be charged for selling them alcohol when they were obviously drunk? Should the cashier let them leave?

Responsibity falls on the person drinking.

I think the difference with the Wal Mart situation is they sold beer that the people were taking away. At a bar, you order a drink to drink at the bar. It is the responsibility of the bartender to judge if the customer has has too much to drink and they are responsible for refusing to serve them.

Well the ladies drove to Walmart drunk. Purchased more alcohol and were driving home. I think the store would be well within their rights to refuse the sale as a bar would be to refuse service. But it boils down to letting an intoxicated person leave your business and get into a vehicle. Who is responsible here?? It's a tough question.

[crash]

Responsibity falls on the person drinking.

This could shock the shit out of a few people, but I think Dopey is right. The responsibility does fall on the person drinking. This whole blame shifting trend with the world shits me to tears.

If you know you're going to tie one on, get a lift, get a cab, catch the bus, walk ffs. If you're not planning to get drunk and find yourself there anyway, see the previous sentence. The whole notion that you were stupid enough to not get yourself organised, then stupid enough to put yourself in a car and drive and it's all my fault because I sold you alcohol from my business is insanity.


People need to grow the fuck up and own their own shit.

[username]

Well the ladies drove to Walmart drunk. Purchased more alcohol and were driving home. I think the store would be well within their rights to refuse the sale as a bar would be to refuse service. But it boils down to letting an intoxicated person leave your business and get into a vehicle. Who is responsible here?? It's a tough question.

You're reminding me about the guy at ⁷⁄₁₁ who lied to the cops about selling that big ole' bottle of wine to the lady that hit my car. Asshole.

I guess, whether you're a bar employee or not, if you see somebody CLEARLY inebriated getting in to a car, it's morally correct to call the cops. I didn't have too much time to process it before the drunk lady hit my car, but I hope I would have called the cops on her even if she hadn't hit my car. She was definitely a danger to the public in that moment.

However, I see a little bit of a slippery slope. As I said earlier, I don't like the idea of restaurants/bartenders counting drinks and making their own judgments about when to call the cops. Hell, every bar in town probably ought to have a cop outside the door around 2am on a weekend.

[Duchess]

I think Dopey is right.