Fight For Your Right to Party!

Bowl season is about to begin and with it comes bowl parties. Whether throwing a small house party or planning an event on a larger scale, there are things to consider. While event planning may appear to be all fun and games to many people, professional event planners realize the dangers of the games. There are many potential liabilities to consider when planning an event. One possible liability was demonstrated by an Atlanta event planner last year. In December of 2010,  Terry Singleton received a letter from the Academy, but it wasn’t for her nomination. This letter was to inform her of her infringement of copyright. An event she had hosted around Oscar time utilized 7-foot gold statues, similar to those given out at the Academy Awards but not identical. She did not see a problem because the statue had no facial features and looked “more like a gold alien” but the Academy had a different idea and was looking to sue. Due to the Academy’s prestige and wealth, the planner decided to comply and came to an undisclosed settlement. While this may seem like a freak occurrence, incidents like this are an expensive liability that could easily be avoided. Be careful not to include any copyrighted material into decorations and if a client is dead set on having something copyrighted, tell the client he/she will have to pay to have the rights to use that copyrighted material. The client may change his/her mind.

Another liability to consider when creating an event is security measures. This liability can rear its head in many forms. The Aurora shooting earlier this year demonstrated the importance of taking extra precautions at an event. Movie theater patrons, who became victims, and their families are now suing the Cinemark theater for inadequate security at an event of this kind. The theater knew that they were expecting a large crowd of people for the midnight premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises” but they failed to provide security that matched that number of people. They also failed to have security at or alarms on doors that would be considered emergency exit doors. Making sure there is adequate security at an event is one of the easiest ways to avoid liabilities and thanks to cases like this, we may also be looking at the addition of metal detectors at all large events very soon.

Another liability that will more directly impact the home party thrower is alcohol. Many people do not know that under the Dram Shop Act, a social host is responsible for the actions of anyone that they send out of their establishment (including home) intoxicated. A case that we see regarding this is Bishop v. Fair Lanes Georgia Bowling (1986). While this case may seem old, similar cases pop up every year and have the same results. In this case two groups of people were near each other in a bowling alley. One group was obviously intoxicated and was taunting the other group; however, the bowling alley bartender continued to serve alcohol to the already intoxicated patrons. At the end of the night both parties headed outside to go to their cars, but the intoxicated party decided that this would be a good time to violently attack the group that they had been verbally assaulting all night. It was deemed that the establishment should have been aware of the danger that the continued serving of alcohol would cause. They were also liable for the attack because they sent the people out in an obviously intoxicated manner. The best way to avoid this type of liability is to make sure that alcohol is served at a moderate pace and do not be afraid to cut people off and take keys. Require people to take taxis or plan for them to stay the night. Be aware of possible consequences and hopefully come out of this bowl season with a win!

Briana Scales