Lawyers claim bartender’s ‘tragic’ death not fault of Tiger Woods’ restaurant

Palm Beach Post (FL)

WEST PALM BEACH -- A 24-year-old bartender who died in a car wreck after his shift ended at Tiger Woods' flagship restaurant in Jupiter was drunk, high on marijuana, not wearing a seatbelt and driving a car with faulty airbags, attorneys for the eatery said in court papers filed this week.

Turning the tables on lawyers who are suing The Woods Jupiter and the golfing legend's girlfriend in connection with the December crash that cost Nicholas Immesberger his life, attorneys for the restaurant claim valuable evidence was lost because of multiple legal missteps.

Lawyers who are representing Immesberger's parents in the wrongful death suit failed to ask the restaurant to preserve surveillance video that would have proven -- or disproven -- their allegations that the wait staff served Immesberger liquor, knowing he struggled with alcoholism, Postman said.

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Attorney Spencer Kuvin and others who are representing parents Katie Belowsky and Scott Duchene wanted the video to disappear because they knew it contained evidence that would have eviscerated their lawsuit, Postman said.

Kuvin knew "the video would definitively show that Nicholas Immesberger was not served alcohol by (restaurant staff)," Postman wrote. Instead, Postman claims, Immesberger violated restaurant policy by drinking on the job.

Likewise, Postman claims Kuvin allowed the 1999 Corvette Immesberger was driving to be destroyed even though it could have shored up Postman's belief that the Palm Beach State College graduate died because the car's airbags failed to deploy.

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"Because the airbags failed to deploy, Nicholas F. Immesberger was partially ejected from the 1999 Chevrolet Corvette in the crash that tragically killed him," Postman wrote.

Kuvin wasn't immediately available for comment. He has already been forced to drop Tiger Woods from the lawsuit after Postman successfully argued that the golfing great played no role in Immesberger's death.

Woods wasn't at Harbourside Place restaurant on the day of the crash. Further, he doesn't own The Woods, but is merely an investor, Postman claimed.

Postman is asking Woods' girlfriend, Erica Herman, to be dropped from the lawsuit for similar reasons. While Herman may be general manager of the restaurant, Kuvin has offered no evidence that she was working on the day of the accident or that she served alcohol to Immesberger, Postman said.

The crux of Kuvin's lawsuit is that the restaurant and Herman are responsible for Immesberger's death because they allowed him to drink to excess even though they knew he was an alcoholic. Under Florida's dram shop law, a person or bar can be held responsible if they served alcohol to someone they knew was "habitually addicted."

In a press conference in May to announce the filing of the lawsuit, Kuvin said the surveillance video was intentionally destroyed because it showed Immesberger throwing back drinks for three hours before leaving the restaurant.

"We absolutely believe that the video tape was destroyed as a direct result of his death," he said.

If Kuvin wanted the video, Postman said he should have asked restaurant officials to preserve it in early January when Kuvin's law firm began representing Immesberger's parents.

Postman repeatedly calls Immesberger's death tragic. But, he said, decisions the young man made led to his demise.

He chose to work as a bartender, knowing he struggled with alcoholism, Postman wrote. Immesberger drove away from the restaurant even though tests later showed his blood-alcohol level was 0.256 percent -- more than three times the 0.08 percent mark when Florida drivers are presumed to be impaired.

He also drove fast, Postman said. Police estimated he was traveling at about 70 mph on Southeast Federal Highway near Port Salerno when he lost control of the Corvette, causing a single-car rollover crash.

Further, Immesberger had been smoking marijuana, Postman said. A test of Immesberger's blood found that it contained 13.3 nanograms per millileter of THC, the chemical in marijuana that makes people high. While some states consider a test showing 1 to 5 nanograms evidence of impairment, Florida doesn't have such a standard.

"Nicholas F. Immesberger made many decisions on December 10, 2018 and as a result of his decisions, he tragically died in an automobile accident while under the heavy influence of marijuana and alcohol," Postman concluded.

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