As the end of the year approaches, many community associations prepare for annual meetings, holiday parties and similar gatherings that often include sharing food and drink. These get-togethers can be good forums for thanking community volunteers, meeting neighbors, and generally fostering good will throughout the community; however, these gatherings are not always without peril. Where an association-sponsored event includes drinking alcoholic beverages, the association may be exposed to greater liability in the unfortunate event of an alcohol-related injury or death. The general rule in Georgia is that those who sell, furnish or serve alcoholic beverages should not be held liable for injury, death or property damage caused by an intoxicated person except in certain circumstances. See O.C.G.A. 51-1-40(b). These exceptional circumstances include when someone provides alcohol to a minor or to someone who is noticeably intoxicated. Id. In order to minimize an Association’s exposure to this type of “imputed liability,” a board of directors should carefully plan and manage Association events and take certain precautionary measures.
First, the Association should not sell alcoholic beverages unless it is properly licensed to do so and maintains adequate liability insurance. Selling alcoholic beverages includes “indirectly” charging for drinks, including by selling tickets to “exchange” for drinks or charging an additional admission fee for attendees who intend to drink.
If the Association is not licensed but would like to provide alcoholic beverages at an Association-sponsored event, the Association should designate responsible individuals to serve the beverages. These individuals should understand their responsibility with respect to not serving alcohol to a minor or to a noticeably intoxicated person, and the Board should establish some basic procedures to lessen the chances of this. This can include limiting the number of alcoholic drinks each person may have during the course of the event, limiting the number of drinks a single person can order at one time, and verifying the age of anyone the server does not recognize as being of legal drinking age.
In addition, the Board should have some procedures in place to prevent any guest who does become intoxicated from driving. For instance, if the meeting is held in the community, the Board could encourage members to walk to the event. If the event is held outside of the community, the Board could encourage carpooling with a “designated driver” and also arrange for a car or taxi service to be on call for the event. The Association should take reasonable steps to prevent an intoxicated person from driving, but does not need to go through extreme measures such as restraining an intoxicated person.
If the Association hires a caterer to provide alcoholic beverages or otherwise arranges for a cash bar at the Association gathering, the Association should be sure that the servers are properly licensed and insured. The contract for the bar service should include an obligation for the server to indemnify the Association in the event a minor or intoxicated person is served and then causes injury or death. If the Association does not want to provide alcohol, but would like to allow alcoholic beverages at an Association-sponsored event, it can allow attendees to bring their own beverages. By not directly furnishing the alcohol, the Association’s exposure to liability may be significantly reduced; however, at any Association event that involves drinking alcohol, the Board would be wise to designate some responsible individuals to take reasonable steps to ensure that no minors are drinking alcohol and that any intoxicated persons do not drive.
Finally, when planning for the event, the Board should consider obtaining additional host liquor liability insurance coverage. The Association’s insurer should be able to advise the Board as to what types of situations this coverage applies and what situations are excluded from coverage.
End-of- year Association gatherings can be beneficial to a community in many ways. An alcohol-related injury or death associated with such an event would negate any such benefit and open up the Association to liability. With careful planning and management, a board of directors can reduce the Association’s exposure to liability for alcohol-related accidents and can help keep community members safe and happy for the coming year.