Primera Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a JB's Lounge v. Autrey

Summary

The Texas Court of Appeals considered whether Primera Enterprises, Inc., doing business as JB's Lounge, established the statutory safe-harbor defense under the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code against liability under the Dram Shop Act. The court held that JB's proved its employees had completed approved seller-training programs and that no evidence showed direct or indirect encouragement of over-service. The court sustained JB's matter-of-law challenge, reversed the judgment against it, and rendered a take-nothing judgment in its favor.

Holdings

1. JB's established the first two elements of the statutory safe harbor by requiring its employees to attend, and showing that they attended, a commission-approved seller-training program. Because the record contained no evidence that JB's directly or indirectly encouraged the employee to over-serve Flores, the safe-harbor defense was conclusively established as a matter of law.
2. The court declined to address JB's alternative legal- and factual-sufficiency challenges because sustaining the safe-harbor issue required reversal of the judgment against JB's.

Questions Presented

1. Whether JB's established as a matter of law its affirmative defense under Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code section 106.14(a).
2. Whether the evidence was legally and factually insufficient to support JB's liability under the Texas Dram Shop Act.

Disposition

reversed