An Oregon bartender whose drinking on the
job prompted his employer to have its license temporarily revoked is being sued
for $115,000 in lost earnings, The Barrel Room wants Jorstad
to pay up: roughly $5,500 per day for the 21 days they can’t sell alcohol. The lawsuit claims that bartender
Gunnar Hokan Jorstad was drunk on the job last January while serving customers
at the Barrel Room in Oregon. Jorstad has
also been penalized and his service permit suspended for 18 days, a permit issued by the Oregon Liquor Control
Commission to employees who serve alcohol in restaurants, taverns, nightclubs,
bars, lounges, private clubs, and similar businesses.
Commission
spokesman Matthew Van Sickle elaborated, saying a police officer noticed
Jorstad in a highly intoxicated state outside the bar about 10 p.m. Jan. 13.
Five hours later, police were called to remove Jorstad from the bar as he
neared the end of a shift that started at 8 p.m., Van Sickle said.
This is a
question I was often faced with here in Key West while bartending here. It is technically illegal to be drinking
while working behind a bar in Florida as well, but I’ve never seen it enforced
here. I would thank the customer for the offer and
tell them I was bound by law not to be drinking behind the bar. My comment to them is that I could not make
sure that they didn’t get into trouble if I was as drunk as they were. It seemed to work, because my customers didn’t
get mad over it.
Oregon
obviously has stricter laws relating to drinking behind the bar than many other
states and enforces them. The reason for
both the bar and the bartender being penalized would appear to me anyway, that
the bar management as well as the bartender were not paying attention to what
was happening on the premises.
Read More at https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2019/01/portland-bar-sues-bartender-for-115000-for-drinking-on-the-job.html
