P.J. Clarke's forced to pay $2.2M in DWI suit - driving while intoxicated - Brief Article
NEW YORK -- P.J. Clarke's, a landmark restaurant and bar, has been ordered to pay $2.2 million in damages to a woman who became permanently brain damaged in an auto accident caused by an intoxicated man who had been drinking at the bar for hours.
A Manhattan jury held Clarke's liable for the accident and chastised the famed East Side restaurant and bar for continuing to serve the man triple scotches for five hours even though several patrons observed he was noticeably drunk, said Paul Dansker, the lawyer representing the injured woman.
The woman, Joan Senn, a former advertising space salesperson, broke five ribs, fractured her collarbone and vertebrae, and sustained permanent brain damage--losing 15 to 20 points from her I.Q. --when she drove off with the man in his Alfa Romeo in 1985, Dansker said.
Ironically, P.J. Clarke's popularity began nearly 50 years ago in a movie depicting the horrors of alcoholism, "The Lost Weekend." The 1945 film won the Academy Award for best picture and got Ray Milland an Oscar for best actor for his portrayal of an alcoholic.
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