Jury Awards Victim $4.3 Million In Red Sox-Yankees Dispute At Restaurant
By David Owens, The Hartford Courant |
Freire sued The U.S.S. Chowder Pot III restaurant in
On Thursday, a jury in
The incident occurred
Mayor, who was drinking in the bar, was obnoxious and causing trouble, Pothin said. Freire's friends notified two bartenders about Mayor's behavior, but they took no action, Pothin argued.
"Then not too long after that my client was standing near his friend at the bar, asked the assailant 'what his problem was,' and he stabbed him in the neck," Pothin said.
The suit claimed the restaurant was negligent for failing to protect patrons. "The bartender had every opportunity to intervene and he chose not to," Pothin said.
Freire "almost died that night," Pothin said. "He had three emergency surgeries at
The lawyer who represented the restaurant,
"It's an odd situation from a legal point of view," Trendowski said. "What it's called is liability for wrongful acts of a third party. Traditionally a defendant was not responsible for intentional acts of someone else."
Exceptions have been carved out in recent years to weaken the standard and make it easier for businesses to be held liable for the acts of others, he said.
After the stabbing, Mayor walked out of the restaurant and was confronted by a police officer who'd drawn his handgun. Mayor told the officer to just shoot him.
"This was an unpredictable act," said Trendowski, who has represented restaurants and bars for 25 years. "You don't anticipate someone is going to whip out a knife and stab somebody."
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