Yes, there are consequences to providing alcohol patrons who are already intoxicated or under the age of 21. When an intoxicated person causes harm to another individual, that intoxicated person can sue your business if you were the place that supplied and distributed alcohol. They could be involved in an injury or a car accident for all you know, but it all leads to your business in the end.
Furthermore, other people working at a dram shop such as social hosts, are not considered liable since they are considered third-party dram shop liability. In a sense, social hosts do not face major consequences since they don’t own the dram shop itself. Damages that intoxicated patrons can recover from a dram shop lawsuit include car repair, treatment costs, lost wages from work absences, and even emotional trauma such as pain from the accident.
Depending on the circumstances, filing a dram shop lawsuit must be filed within two years of the day that the incident occurred since Oklahoma holds certain statutes to dram shop laws. One must keep in mind about to go about the circumstances when filing an injury claim. As for minors, dram shops are prohibited to serve alcohol to anyone under the age of 21. This is another hazard to dram shop businesses because if you were to get sued without any knowledge of providing alcohol to a minor, then it could be the end of your business. There are several ways that dram shops can be deemed liable to patrons that come in and out of their business.