LAWRENCE PUGLIA, APPELLANT,
v.
DRINKS ON THE BEACH, INC., A DISSOLVED FLORIDA CORPORATION, D/B/A DRINKS ON THE BEACH, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1984-09-14
No. 83-2475
SCHEB, A.C.J., and OTT, J., concur.
457 So. 2d 519 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1984) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Lawrence Puglia appealed from dismissal of his complaint alleging that a bar served him alcohol while he was 18 years old, causing intoxication that led to a motor vehicle accident. The court held that Florida's statute prohibiting service of alcohol to persons under 19 protects all individuals under the lawful drinking age, not just legal minors, and therefore reversed the dismissal of Puglia's claim.


Holding

Section 562.11 provides protection to all persons under the lawful drinking age of 19, not merely to legal minors. The trial court erred in dismissing the complaint based on the reasoning that Puglia was not a minor and therefore not protected by the statute.


Headnotes

[1] A statute prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages to persons under nineteen years of age protects all persons under the lawful drinking age, not solely minors.

[2] A dissolved Florida corporation can be sued for actions taken by its agents and employees.

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Key Quotes

“when the legislature enacted section 562.11, it was acquainted with judicial decisions on the subject, including Prevatt. Migliore. Moreover, when the language of a statute is clear and not unreasonable or illogical in its operation, the court may not go outside the statute to give it a different meaning.”

Establishes the plain language rule of statutory interpretation and the court's assumption that the legislature was aware of prior case law when enacting the statute

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Facts & Procedural History

On October 14, 1981, Drinks on the Beach served alcoholic beverages to Lawrence Puglia, who was 18 years old at the time. Puglia alleged he was served…

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Opinion of the Court
SCHOONOVER, Judge.

SCHOONOVER, Judge.

The appellant, Lawrence Puglia, has appealed from an order dismissing with prejudice one count of his second amended complaint and from a judgment on the pleadings in connection with another count of the complaint. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

In count I of his second amended complaint the appellant alleged that on October 14, 1981, the appellee, Drinks on the Beach, a dissolved Florida corporation d/b/a Drinks on the Beach, operated, managed, and controlled a business that was licensed to serve alcoholic beverages to the public. Appellant alleged that the appellee, through its agents and employees, served alcoholic beverages to the appellant as a business invitee. Appellant alleged that he was at that time eighteen years of age and was served the alcoholic beverages in violation of section 562.11, Florida Statutes (Supp.1980). He further alleged that as a result of appellee’s actions he became intoxicated, and this intoxication caused him, while attempting to drive home in a motor vehicle, to become involved in an accident that resulted in personal injuries.

In count II of his second amended complaint, the appellant alleged that appellee violated section 768.125, Florida Statutes (Supp.1980), and as a result the appellant became intoxicated. This intoxication subsequently caused him to lose control of his motor vehicle and to suffer injuries in a one-car accident.

The trial court granted, with prejudice, the appellee’s motion to dismiss count I of the second amended complaint on the grounds that Lawrence Puglia was not a minor and therefore was not a person intended to be protected by section 562.11. The trial court granted a judgment on the pleadings with regard to count II.

The trial court was correct in entering a judgment on the pleadings as to count II of the second amended complaint, and we, accordingly, affirm that ruling. See Migliore v. Crown Liquors of Broward, Inc., 448 So. 2d 978 (Fla.1984); Armstrong v. Munford, Inc., 451 So. 2d 480 (Fla.1984). The trial court erred, however, in granting the motion to dismiss count I.

Section 562.11, which became effective October 1, 1980, provides in pertinent part as follows:

562.11 Selling, giving, or serving alcoholic beverages to persons under age 19 prohibited.— (l)(a) It is unlawful for any person to sell, give, serve, or permit to be served alcoholic beverages to a person under 19 years of age or to permit a person under 19 years of age to consume said beverages on the licensed premises.

On the date of the accident in question, the age of majority was eighteen and the lawful drinking age was nineteen. Ap-pellee contends that because the appellant was eighteen at the time of the accident, and therefore no longer a minor, appellant was not a member of the particular class of persons that, due to an inability to protect themselves, the statute was enacted to protect. We disagree. It is true that prior decisions have construed this statute’s predecessor as one that was enacted for the protection of minors. See, e.g., Prevatt v. McClennan, 201 So. 2d 780 (Fla. 2d DCA 1967). At the time of those decisions, however, the age of minority was the same as the unlawful drinking age. In 1980 the Florida legislature amended section 562.11 to delete the word minor and substitute the phrase “persons under the age of nineteen” so that the statute now prohibits the selling, giving, or serving of alcoholic beverages to persons under nineteen years of age. During the same session, section 743.07, Florida Statutes (Supp.1980), which had removed the disability of nonage from eighteen year olds, was amended to provide “and except as otherwise provided in the beverage law.”

We must assume that when the legislature enacted section 562.11, it was acquainted with judicial decisions on the subject, including Prevatt. Migliore. Moreover, when the language of a statute is clear and not unreasonable or illogical in its operation, the court may not go outside the statute to give it a different meaning. In Re Levy’s Estate, 141 So. 2d 803 (Fla. 2d DCA 1962). In view of the plain language of the statute and the legislature’s deliberate selection of words, we conclude that section 562.11 provides protection not only to minors but to all persons under the lawful drinking age.

Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for proceedings consistent herewith.

SCHEB, A.C.J., and OTT, J., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Ellis v. N.G.N. OF Tampa, Inc., 561 So. 2d 1209 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990)
    …complaint on the grounds that there is no cause of action against the vendor of intoxicants under section 768.125 for injuries received by an intoxicated [adult] driver as the result of a one car accident, citing Puglia v. Drinks on the Beach, Inc., 457 So. 2d 519 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984), and Pritchard v. Jax Liquors, Inc., 499 So. 2d 926 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986), review denied, 511 So. 2d 298 (Fla.1987). We affirm the dismissal of the suit but not for the reason given by the trial court. Our decision turns on our ana…
    1 / 2
  • J.R.S. v. State, 483 So. 2d 834 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986)
    …anguage is clear and unambiguous, we need look no further than the statute itself. Reino v. State, 352 So. 2d 853, 860 (Fla.1977). See also Nash v. Ft. Lauderdale Board of Adjustment, 462 So. 2d 88 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985); Puglia v. Drinks on the Beach, 457 So. 2d 519 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984). The Florida Legislature has expressly provided that a judge has discretion to either impose the alternate sanctions of section 316.655(4) or order a prison sentence in county jail for up to one year under section 316.1935. Accor…

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