Yahoo Sports Tiger Woods removed as defendant from wrongful death lawsuit involving his restaurant
Tiger Woods has been dismissed as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by parents of a Florida man who was allegedly over-served alcohol by Woods’ restaurant and died in a drunk driving accident, his lawyers said in a statement released to Golfweek.
Nicholas Immesberger had reportedly finished a shift as a bartender at The Woods in Jupiter, Florida, when he was allegedly served to the point that he was later found to have a blood alcohol concentration of 0.256. The 24-year-old reportedly drove his 1999 Chevrolet Corvette off a highway and overturned at around 6 p.m. on Dec. 10, 2018.
Lawsuit claimed Tiger Woods was liable for death
Woods and his girlfriend Erica Herman, who runs the restaurant, were named in the lawsuit as liable because they “reasonably should have known” that Immesberger had a “habitual problem” with alcohol.
It is not known if Herman has also been dismissed as a defendant.
Per Golfweek, Florida alcohol laws say bar owners can be held liable even if they aren’t physically at the bar, and only establishments that “knowingly serve a person habitually addicted to the use of any or all alcoholic beverages” can be liable for injury or damage caused by that person’s intoxication.
Woods’ attorneys at Cole, Scott & Kissane still argued for the lawsuit’s dismissal, and it appears they were at least successful in having Woods himself ruled as not personally liable.
A statement from the law firm, via Golfweek:
"The decision was clearly appropriate and reflected the fact that Mr. Woods should not have been included in the lawsuit in the first place because he had nothing to do with Mr. Immesberger's death. While the situation was tragic, the facts will ultimately show that the cause of Mr. Immesberger's car accident were the many decisions made by Mr. Immesberger on the night of his passing," the firm said in a release.
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