$29M settlement; father killed, son injured in alleged alcohol-related incident

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$29 MILLION SETTLEMENT

Action: Dram shop

Injuries alleged: Death, traumatic brain injury, emotional distress

Case name: Withheld

Court/case no.: Withheld

Amount: $29,273,000

Date: March 25, 2025

Attorneys: David Lail and Liam Duffy of Yarborough Applegate in Charleston (for the plaintiffs)

Plaintiffs’ counsel secured a $29,273,000 settlement for a family in an alcohol liability case believed by plaintiff’s counsel to be the largest reported dram shop settlement in South Carolina and the largest against a gas station in the United States.

The case arose after an underage drunk driver left the roadway and struck a father and his young son while they were in their yard. The father was killed, and the boy suffered severe injuries, including a traumatic brain injury. The child’s mother witnessed the incident.

In police dash camera footage recorded shortly after the incident, the underage driver stated that he had purchased alcohol at a gas station chain. Plaintiff’s counsel initially filed suit only against the driver and subpoenaed the gas station for surveillance footage, point-of-sale (POS) data, employee records, and alcohol sales training materials.

The investigation revealed that the driver bought alcohol twice from the gas station in the hours before the crash. During the first purchase, the driver used a fake ID that was scanned by the gas station’s POS system, which merely verified the encoded birth date. During the second purchase, no ID was requested, and the clerk overrode the register’s ID-checking function.

Law enforcement initially declined to issue a violation after receiving incomplete video footage from the gas station. Plaintiff’s counsel later discovered that key portions of the second sale video had not been provided. After he supplied the full footage and challenged the legality of the store’s ID-checking policy, the investigation was reopened and a violation was issued.

Plaintiff’s counsel also learned that the gas station’s ID scanner could not detect fake IDs, despite readily available technology that could. Further research uncovered 15 prior violations for selling alcohol to minors, all resolved by paying fines.