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Greenwalt v. Ram Restaurant Corp. of Wyoming6/26/2003
oming statutes remains intact. § 12-8-301(c).
Searching Title 12 of the Wyoming statutes for those provisions which if violated will expose the licensee or non-licensee person to civil liability for damages caused by an intoxicated person to whom liquor was sold or provided, one finds several that are pertinent. A non-licensee person, for example, a social host, is exposed to civil liability if he or she furnishes liquor to an underage person who is not the liquor provider's legal ward, medical patient, or immediate family member. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 12-6-101(a) (LexisNexis 2001). Stated conversely, if the relationship of legal ward, medical patient, or immediate family member does exist between the liquor provider and the underage person, the liquor provider is deemed to have legally furnished liquor to the underage person and, therefore, is not liable to a third party damaged by the intoxicated underage person.
On the other hand, a licensee is exposed to civil liability in several instances. If a licensee, after receiving written notice from a court, parent, or guardian of an underage person or ward of the latter's minority, sells liquor to the underage person, then the licensee is exposed to liability. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 12-5-502 (LexisNexis 2001). Similarly, if a licensee, after receiving written notice from the spouse or dependent of a habitual drunkard of the latter's neglect of support obligations, sells liquor to the habitual drunkard, then the licensee is exposed to liability. Id. Another instance of a licensee's liability exposure is found if a licensee sells liquor at the licensee's drive-in area to an underage person or to an intoxicated person. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 12-5-301(a)(v) (LexisNexis 2001).
We note that the legislature has not changed the intoxicated person's exposure to civil liability for damages he or she causes. § 12-8-301(b). Consequently, if a licensee or nonlicensee person sells or provides liquor to another in violation of Title 12 and that consumer damages a third party, then both the liquor provider and the intoxicated person are exposed to civil liability. On the other hand, if the licensee or non-licensee person legally provides liquor to a consumer and that consumer damages a third party, then only the intoxicated consumer is exposed to civil liability.
As the legislature has broadly drawn the statutory tort claim, it covers the myriad ways by which an intoxicated person can cause damage. An intoxicated person can cause damage to himself or herself or a third party negligently or intentionally, when using a mobile vehicle (automobile, airplane, railroad engine, etc.), or when not using a mobile vehicle. See Mosher, supra, § 1.02 - , at 1-5 through 1-9.
Our foregoing review of the statutorily created and amended tort claim as it existed in 1986 and at the time of the Sampsell-Greenwalt automobile accident in question reveals that, although retrenchment of liability occurred in some ways, the legislative product remained a full and comprehensive regulatory scheme expressing the State's social policy in this most complex area of damages caused by intoxicated members of our society.
Open Courts Provision
With that background in mind, we consider Greenwalts' contention that §12-8-301 prevents or impedes access to the courts because it grants immunity from tort actions to alleged tortfeasor vendors whose sale and service of liquor to patrons result in injuries to another and, by impinging on this fundamental right, strict scrutiny must be applied when considering any classification. Article 1, § 8 of the Wyoming Constitution provides:
All courts shall be open and every person for
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