Ensley v. Pitcher

Nicholas Ensley was injured when a drunk woman, Rebecca Humphries, plowed into him.  He sued the bar that allegedly over served Ms. Humphries.  The case against the bar was dismissed on summary judgment in part because the court struck evidence of that Ms. Humphries’ intoxication was apparent to the bartender, Mr. Pitcher.  The trial court also refused to allow Mr. Ensley to amend his complaint to include Mr. Pitcher individually. 

Mr. Ensley brought a separate action directly against Mr. Pitcher.  The Court of Appeals held that res judicata precluded the claim, because Mr. Pitcher was an employee of the bar and the bar had previously had claims against it dismissed.

Note to bars: Don’t serve alcohol to people that look glassy-eyed.

This entry was posted on September 15, 2009 at 9:22 am and is filed under Appellate Procedure, Division I, Judge Linda Lau - Concur in Majority, Judge Marlin Applewick - Draft Majority, Judge Susan R. Agid - Concur in Majority, res judicata, Tort, WA Court of Appeals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.