Tiger Woods hit with wrongful death lawsuit following former employee's fatal drink-drive crash
Golf great Tiger Woods and his girlfriend Erica Herman have been named in a lawsuit accusing them and a Florida restaurant they own of 'over-serving' alcohol to an employee who was later killed when he attempted to drive home.
Woods, who is listed as an owner of 'The Woods' restaurant in Jupiter, Florida, and Herman, who is the general manager, have been hit with the lawsuit following a December incident in which 24-year-old bartender Nicholas Immesberger lost his life in a car wreck hours after finishing his shift.
The lawsuit alleges that Immesberger continued to be served alcohol despite being visibly inebriated and that staff didn't object when they became aware that he was intending to drive home. Immesberger died at approximately 6pm local time on December 10, around three hours after finishing his shift. His blood alcohol level was more than three times over the legal limit for driving at the time of his death.
Per reports from US media the lawsuit, which was brought forward by the Immesberger family, contends that employees of The Woods were aware that the bartender was a "habitual drunkard" and that friends had asked employees to not serve Immesberger alcohol.
The lawsuit also states that Woods, Herman and Immesberger socialized in the bar just days before the bartender's death.
"The employees and management at The Woods had direct knowledge that Immesberger had a habitual problem with alcohol," the lawsuit reads.
"In fact, employees and managers knew that Immesberger had attended Alcoholic Anonymous meetings prior to the night of his crash and was attempting to treat his disease. Despite this, the employees and management at The Woods continued to serve Immesberger alcohol while he was working as well as after work, while he sat at the bar."
Per Florida law, Woods could be held responsible for the incident due to his role as the establishment's owner even if he wasn't physically present when the incident occurred.
The lawsuit is understood to be seeking in excess of $15,000 (€13,400). Woods is currently preparing to compete in the PGA Championship which begins on Thursday. It will be his first tournament since winning The Masters last month.
