A man is suing Maggiano’s Little Italy in Friendship Heights for allegedly serving him too much alcohol one night in June of last year, leading to a serious fall on the Metro tracks later that night that left him with facial fractures and head trauma, NBC Washington reports.
Patrick Augusma of Southeast is suing the Italian restaurant for negligence. He’s asking the judge to award him $2 million, according to the outlet. Augusma accuses the restaurant of serving him alcohol after he “visibly appeared to be intoxicated.”
A federal judge will have to decide whether the case has any merit and can move forward, according to NBC Washington.
D.C. law prohibits the sale of alcohol to “an intoxicated person, or any person who appears to be intoxicated.” Any retail establishment that violates that law faces potential fines and eventually the revocation of its license to sell alcohol.
Cases similar to—but not exactly like—this one have prevailed in D.C. courts before. In 2013, courts ordered the District Lounge and Bar in Adams Morgan to pay $1 million for over-serving a customer who went on to drive drunk and kill a pedestrian. Generally however, it’s more difficult to successfully bring suit against an establishment when you injure yourself, as opposed to another person.
This isn’t the first time Maggiano’s has been caught up in some controversy: in 2016, the restaurant was the subject of protests for allowing the white nationalist National Policy Institute to host a dinner there.
Natalie Delgadillo