Indiana court upholds $39 million ruling against Outback in alcohol-related accident

By Jim Greene

Published on August 02, 2005

The suit was filed by David and Lisa Markley, who were riding a motorcycle struck by a car driven by an Outback guest alleged to have been intoxicated at the time of the accident, in the summer of 1997. The suit alleges the restaurant allowed alcohol to be served to a guest after he was already obviously intoxicated. The Markley's, who were seriously injured in the accident, were awarded $60 million in 2003. The court assigned Outback, which was giving a grand opening party on the night of the accident, 65 percent of the fault, resulting in the $39 million judgment against it.

Outback's appeal of the judgment was based, in part, on the argument that the Markleys' attorneys failed their obligation to tell the company that one of its key witnesses had changed her story. A former waitress had previously denied serving alcohol to an already-intoxicated patron, but, when asked in court, said that she had, surprising the Outback attorneys.

The appeals court called the Markley attorneys' actions a breach of legal duty, but said that neither that nor any of several other points in the appeal had merit.

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