Boston Injury Attorney Blog
Earlier this week, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that teenagers in Massachusetts who host underage drinking parties, but don’t supply alcohol, cannot be held liable in a subsequent civil lawsuit for injuries sustained by a person at the gathering.
According to Justice Fernande Duffly, “We [were] asked to enlarge the scope of social host liability under our common law by extending a duty of care to an underage host who does not supply alcohol to underage guests, but provides a location where they are permitted to consume it…We decline[d] to do so, and reaffirm[ed] that liability attaches only where a social host either serves alcohol or exercises effective control over the supply of alcohol.”
This ruling stems from a suit filed by the estate of Rachel Juliano, a Massachusetts teenager who was tragically left with permanent brain injuries after a car accident. It was later determined that the driver of the vehicle, her boyfriend, was operating under the influence (OUI), after leaving a party at the home of another Massachusetts teenager, where he consumed alcohol.