The man’s daughter insists it was the bar owner who urged her father to keep drinking, blames him for his death

May 10, 2015 19:16 GMT  ·  By

A bar owner is now on trial for the death of a man who passed away after having consumed way more alcohol than he could handle. He stands accused of manslaughter, with the man’s daughter saying that it was he who encouraged her father to keep drinking. 

Naturally, the bar owner defends himself and says that it is not his job to watch over his patrons and make sure that they drink responsibly. Rather, this responsibility befalls their friends and family.

So, which is it? Is the patron’s daughter right in accusing the bar owner of manslaughter or is this lawsuit merely an attempt to assign blame when there is no blame to assign and the entire affair was instead no more and no less than an unfortunate accident?

First off, here’s a facts rundown

The patron who died after having consumed too much alcohol for his own good visited the bar whose owner is now on trial in October 2014. The 57-year-old man, identified only as Renaud, was accompanied by his daughter and a few of his friends.

Until Renaud’s visit, the bar, called Le Starter and located in the city of Clermont-Ferrand in central France, had a record of 55 shots drank in one night. On the night of October 23, 2014, 57-year-old Renaud set a new record.

He drank a total of 56 shots. He started with 14, which he consumed at a relaxed pace. These were followed by another 30, which he drank in just one minute. The patron then proceeded to chug down 12 more shots, thus becoming Le Starter’s new record holder.

The following day, 57-year-old Renaud started feeling ill. His daughter called for help and he was rushed to the nearest hospital. Unfortunately, doctors failed to help him. Eventually, the man passed away of cardiac arrest.

According to Renaud’s daughter, the man never wanted to drink the last 12 shots and only did it because the owner approached him and encouraged him to keep going and try to break the bar’s record. “Only 12 to go,” the bar owner supposedly told Renaud.

The lawsuit alleges that the 57-year-old was served alcohol despite the fact that it was obvious he had had enough and that, consequently, Le Starter’s owner is guilty of manslaughter. More so since he urged Renaud to push himself and go on drinking.

Is there any sense to this lawsuit?

True, Renaud’s death on October 24, 2014, could have been avoided. Still, I for one don’t think the bar owner can be held responsible. He might have encouraged the 57-year-old to try and set a new record, but he didn’t force him to keep drinking.

Besides, even if Renaud was already too intoxicated to know what he was doing by the time he drank the last 12 shots that made him Le Starter’s new record holder, he didn’t go to the bar alone. He was there with his daughter and his friends.

It could be that the bar owner passed by Renaud’s table and exchanged a few lines with him, but his daughter was by his side the entire time and she should have known better than let her father do 56 shots in one night. Instead, she settled for being an observer.

No, I’m not saying that she is the one that should he held accountable for her father's death. Rather, I think the entire affair was a mishap that nobody can be blamed for. A night out in the city gone horribly wrong, if you will.

After all, those “please drink responsibly” commercials tell us to, well, drink responsibly, not have bar owners, our friends or our family make sure we don’t chug down more than we can handle.