Build It & They Will Drink, Inc. v. Strauch

Summary

The Colorado Supreme Court held that Colorado's dram-shop-liability statute provides the exclusive remedy against an alcohol vendor for injuries caused by an intoxicated person. The court concluded that the statute's requirements—willful and knowing service of alcohol to an underage or visibly intoxicated person and injury caused by the person's intoxication—do not include an additional reasonable-foreseeability element. The court affirmed the court of appeals' reversal of summary judgment on the statutory claim.

Holdings

1. Reasonable foreseeability is not an element of liability under section 12-47-801 and is not an appropriate independent consideration in determining liability under that statute.
2. A plaintiff asserting a dram-shop claim must prove that the liquor licensee willfully and knowingly sold or served alcohol to an underage or visibly intoxicated patron and that the plaintiff suffered injuries because of the patron's intoxication.
3. The absence of a foreseeability requirement does not convert section 12-47-801 into a strict-liability statute.

Questions Presented

1. Whether reasonable foreseeability is an element of, or may otherwise be considered in determining, a liquor licensee's liability under Colorado's dram-shop-liability statute, section 12-47-801, C.R.S. (2010).
2. Whether the statutory dram-shop claim could proceed despite the absence of evidence that the stabbing was a foreseeable consequence of Build It's sale or service of alcohol.

Disposition

affirmed