News

It may be harder to linger over too many drinks at Ontario bars in the coming weeks. News that police have charged 16 employees of a Muskoka golf club for serving too much alcohol to three young men before a fatal car crash has become a hot topic of conversation among those who work in the bar and restaurant industry.

Charges were laid on Monday against 16 Lake Joseph Club servers, managers and executives for over-serving Tyler Mulcahy, 20, Cory Mintz, 20, and Kourosh Totonchian, 19, before they died in a car crash last summer.

The Muskoka case will "jerk us to remember we have a professional responsibility here," said Allison Martin, spokeswoman for the members-only sports club the Boulevard Club on Toronto's lakeshore.

But some observers on the front lines are asking how far they should have to go to ensure patrons' safety.

Counting drinks is not enough, says J. Randall Barrs, a criminal lawyer who defends licensed establishments facing Liquor Licence Act charges such as these. Patrons may have been pre-drinking, they may have taken a drug that kicks in while they're in your establishment, or have an extremely low tolerance, he says.

"Any sign or symptom, you've got to act," he says. Whatever the case, clubs and bars must remove patrons and take responsibility for their safety outside the premises.

Jay McEwen, who has worked in Toronto bars and restaurants for years, says he finds the Lake Joseph case "shockingly irresponsible," especially if the bartender was friends with the group, as Tim Mulcahy, Tyler's father, suggested. He has also said that the police report reveals that the group, which included crash survivor Nastasia Inez Elzinga, 19, had been served 31 drinks over a few hours.

Mr. McEwen says the drill is second nature to him and his industry friends, who often serve each other and have no problem calling each other out when they've imbibed too much. "My friends will cut me off and send me home in a cab, and I'll do the same for them," he says.

At the Boulevard Club, Ms. Martin says, managers routinely remind staff to be vigilant, especially as the summer patio or holiday seasons ramp up.

Occasionally, the bar has been shut down, or drunk members have been escorted to a cab.

Servers use close member-staff relations to their favour, casually asking, "How are you guys getting home?" early in the service, or even connecting with a person at the table who is not drinking or who appears to be remaining sober, as a point person.

Still, it's a delicate task: Servers shouldn't appear as though they suspect every guest of intending to get drunk, says Ms. Martin, the director of marketing and communications for the club. And because it may be intimidating for junior staffers to address inebriated older members, they sometimes have to turn to older staff to step in.

One Toronto bartender who asked not to be named says she has employed creative tactics to curb risks, including designating a driver within a group of people and serving that person no booze, or coaxing a patron into a cab by promising to leave a note on his car window alerting parking constables to the special circumstances of the car's overnight stay.

But some drunk folks can be even more creative, she and others point out. They may lie about taking a cab or send a friend to the bar to get them more drinks if they're refused service.

And servers can often find themselves on ethically wobbly ground, Mr. McEwen says. He has felt torn when a table that appears close to its limit orders a second bottle of $400 wine.

"It's a difference of $400 in sales - it gets iffy," he admits. "But there have been times when you tell them, 'I'll save you $400. Go home.' "

A perceived snub doesn't have to mean a lost club member, regular or potential regular, though. It's not uncommon for someone to sheepishly return and thank a server for cutting him or a friend off, according to Ms. Martin and Mr. McEwen.

But some resent the server's level of legal responsibility, which the Lake Joseph case highlights. "It really detracts from personal responsibility," the anonymous bartender says. "It places the onus on the provider instead of the individual."

Another Toronto bartender, Jonathan Osborn, says that while he does cut off overintoxicated drinkers, he thinks patrons should take charge of their own well-being.

"I am hardly serving them an exotic drug concoction that has unknown effects to the consumer," he says. "It's a common substance that's readily available and easily obtained, and, as such, adults should have a working knowledge regarding its effects on their body and mental state."

Still, most servers will admit that playing Big Brother is part of the job.

"I signed up for this," Mr. McEwen says. "I could be mopping floors."