Risks of Running a Brewery & How to Avoid Them

Advertisement

Poyner Spruill Law firm

Beware of These Risks

Underage Drinkers, Intoxicated Patrons & Employee Restrictions

Advertisement

Restrictions on Employees

  • Employees are prohibited from drinking while on the job.

  • Employees who sell or serve alcoholic beverages must be at least 18 years old.

    Advertisement
  • Employees under 21 years old are not permitted to mix drinks containing liquor.

    Advertisement
  • Minors who are 16 or 17 years old are permitted to work at the brewery only if they do   not serve or sell any alcoholic beverages.

Sales to Underage Drinkers

It is unlawful to sell or serve alcohol to persons under 21 years old.

What should you do to protect yourself?

Advertisement
  • Train employees to request proper identification from customers.

  • Create a written policy for checking identification and have employees acknowledge that they have read and understand the policy.

    Advertisement
  • Diligently supervise employees and their age verification practices.

How much might it cost you?

Advertisement
  • There is a cap on damages of $500,000 per occurrence.

Sales to Intoxicated Patrons

It is unlawful for a brewery or an employee of the brewery to knowingly sell alcoholic beverages to an intoxicated person.

What should you do to protect yourself?

Advertisement
  • Train employees on warning signs that a customer may have had too much to drink.

    Advertisement
  • Be cautious in your assessment of a customer’s condition.

How much might it cost you?

  • There is no cap on damages for sales to intoxicated persons.

  • A court may even impose punitive damages against you.

    Advertisement
    Advertisement
ARTICLE BY

OF
© 2014 Poyner Spruill LLP. All rights reserved.

Published by

National Law Forum

A group of in-house attorneys developed the National Law Review on-line edition to create an easy to use resource to capture legal trends and news as they first start to emerge. We were looking for a better way to organize, vet and easily retrieve all the updates that were being sent to us on a daily basis.In the process, we’ve become one of the highest volume business law websites in the U.S. Today, the National Law Review’s seasoned editors screen and classify breaking news and analysis authored by recognized legal professionals and our own journalists. There is no log in to access the database and new articles are added hourly. The National Law Review revolutionized legal publication in 1888 and this cutting-edge tradition continues today.