Party hosts could be liable: Ontario court
An Ontario court left the door open Wednesday on whether party hosts are liable for the actions of their guests, rejecting an appeal by a woman who was left disabled by a drunk party guest.
The Ontario Court of Appeal on Wednesday dismissed an appeal by Zoe Childs, who filed a lawsuit against a couple who hosted a party. A guest at the party was involved in a car crash that left Childs a paraplegic.
In a 3-0 decision, Justice Karen Weiler wrote that the circumstances of the party led her to conclude the hosts, in this case, could not be found liable.
Weiler wrote:
- The party was Bring Your Own Booze, and the hosts did not supply the alcohol.
- The hosts didn't know how much the driver, Desmond Desormeaux, drank.
- They didn't know Desormeaux was impaired when he left the party.
But Weiler stressed that under different circumstances, hosts could be found liable for the actions of their guests.
Childs says she will try to take her case to the Supreme Court of Canada.
On Jan. 1, 1999, Desmond Desormeaux drove his vehicle away from an Ottawa party and crashed into a car carrying Childs and her boyfriend. He was killed and Childs, who was 18 at the time, was left a paraplegic.
Desormeaux, an alcoholic with previous drunk-driving convictions, had a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit.
Childs sued the hosts of the party for negligence.
In August 2002, a judge in Ottawa ruled that the hosts were partly responsible for Desormeaux's actions, but not liable. Justice James Chadwick ruled that "a finding of liability against the social hosts would place an inordinate burden on all social hosts."
Childs had argued that finding a host liable for the actions of a guest would be simply an extension of well-established rules of negligence for homeowners, such as fixing something that could cause injury on their property.
The hosts argued a person holding a private party does not share the same legal obligation for a guest as a bar or restaurant owner does.
In Canada, bar owners and other commercial hosts can be held liable for injuries sustained or caused by a guest or patron.