Van Neil v. Hopper
Opinion of the Court
Order unanimously affirmed without costs. Memorandum: On the evening of September 16, 1983, the 17-year-old plaintiff, Michelle Van Neil, allegedly consumed an excessive quantity of alcoholic beverages during a party at the home of defendants, Mr. and Mrs. Harold Hooper. The alcoholic beverages were allegedly served by Mrs. Hooper’s son, 18-year-old Justin Rugg, and William Williams. Mr. and Mrs. Hooper were not present. Thereafter, at approximately 1:00 a.m. on September 17, 1983, Michelle Van Neil sustained personal injuries when she lost control of her automobile and struck a tree. The complaint alleges that Ms. Van
Plaintiffs have no common-law negligence claim against defendants. The courts of this State have consistently declined to impose liability upon a provider of alcoholic beverages predicated on common-law negligence in favor of a person who, as here, was injured as a result of her own voluntary intoxication (see, Sheehy v Big Flats Community Day, 73 NY2d 629, 636; Vandenburg v Brosnan, 129 AD2d 793, 794, affd 70 NY2d 940; Wellcome v Student Coop., 125 AD2d 393; Reuter v Flobo Enters., 120 AD2d 722, 723). We decline plaintiffs’ invitation to create an exception to this rule solely because the person injured was an infant (see, Reuter v Flobo Enters., supra, at 723). (Appeal from order of Supreme Court, Monroe County, Boehm, J.—summary judgment.) Present—Doerr, J. P., Boomer, Pine, Lawton and Davis, JJ.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.