Wedding Day Nightmare

*Warning** Although this is an important topic, the story told is an extremely tragic one.

If you ask most people if they know what the term "dram shop" or "dramshop" means, chances are they just shrug their shoulders and tell you they don't know. But after you explain what dram shop is in reference to, they almost certainly will know what you are talking about.

Dram shop is the governing body of law that defines the responsibility of establishments that serve alcohol. More specifically, it makes it illegal to serve people who are already intoxicated and illegal to sell alcohol to people under the legal drinking age.

The focus of this story is to demonstrate why establishments must never serve intoxicated patrons and the deadly consequence when this law is broken. So whether it is a bar, restaurant, arena, hotel, or street vendor, providing alcohol to someone who is already intoxicated can trigger a series of events that can never be undone.

True Story
A Pennsylvania resident James Schickling, husband of 26 years and father to two sons, went to a hotel expecting to celebrate his niece's wedding. Unfortunately he left in an ambulance after suffering a major brain injury.

On the night of June 3, 2006, several fights broke out at the hotel that was hosting two wedding receptions—one being the Schickling family wedding. During the course of the third dispute, James Schickling, not involved in the confrontation, was sucker punched in the side of the head by a drunken wedding guest--who turned out to be one of the groomsmen in the family wedding. The victim suffered serious brain trauma as a direct result of the unwarranted punch.

Schickling was rushed to the nearby hospital where he underwent emergency surgery in an attempt to relieve the pressure and bleeding in his head. Unfortunately the attempts to stabilize his condition inflicted by the punch was unsuccessful and Schickling was placed on life support--his brain had ceased functioning.

To add to this already tragic event, the burden of whether to keep her brain-dead husband on life support became the responsibility of his wife of 26 years. She made the incredibly difficult but honorable decision to take her husband off life support. Just 48 hours after attending an event to celebrate the union of two people in love, concluded with two sons losing their father and turned a wife of 26 years into a widow.

The widow sued the hotel on the basis of dram shop and inadequate security and ultimately received a settlement for $5.5 million. However, before thinking "justice was served" consider the allegations brought forth in the lawsuit:

• The hotel knew in advance that the two weddings taking place were "open bar"
• The staff was not trained as required by law on regulations prohibiting the serving of alcohol to visibly intoxicated guests; which also violated hotel policy
  
• Police were never alerted after the first fight--in direct violation of hotel policy. Schickling died as a result of the third fight that broke out
  
• In the three prior years to the death of Schickling, police documented 31 hotel incidents involving fights, public intoxication, and disorderly conduct.
• Within the same three years and In addition to the above, there were also issues at the hotel involving harassment, prostitution, and theft
  

So if the hotel had trained the staff and/or followed some of its own policies, it poses the question, "Would the world have one less widow?". If you had a choice between your spouse of 26 years still being alive today or money, it's safe to say that having your lifelong partner would be the answer each and every time.

And think about the niece of the deceased victim and her wedding anniversary. For the rest of her life, a day set aside to celebrate will now become an annual reminder of a day marred by  tragedy--a tragedy she had no control over--a tragedy that took the life of her uncle.

The purpose of dram shop is to protect us from such events. Establishments that serve alcohol need to be stringent and unrelenting when it comes to obeying dram shop laws. When these laws are broken, it opens the door to unimaginable consequences such as in the case of James Schickling