Alcohol Liability
by Joy Jackson
  
Most liquor laws are state that it is an offense to serve and allow individuals to become intoxicated or to serve individuals who are already intoxicated. In Ontario, this legislation is old.  However, most lawsuits arise because excessive alcohol consumption relates to the Occupiers’ Liability Act rather than directly to providing someone with alcohol to excess.

A 1973 Supreme Court of Canada decision in the case of the Jordan House v. Menow and Honesberger was pivotal in Canada’s approach to how providers of alcoholic beverages should deal with an intoxicated person. The court took the position that commercial establishments owed a duty of care – not just to the intoxicated person, but also to others they could possibly endanger. This same attitude applies to non-profits organizations, work-related parties, municipalities and other social events.
 
What has become clear through the intervening years is that there are two common routes plaintiffs take when suing over excessive serving of alcohol. The first is that someone was served to the point where they were so intoxicated that they become a danger to themselves or others. The second is to ensure that the premises used was not reasonably safe to those present – sober or drunk.