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DuPage County Strip Club Cannot Be Excluded from Chicago DUI/Wrongful Death Lawsuit

In Illinois, the state appellate court has ruled that the owners of Diamonds Gentlemen?s Club, a DuPage County strip club located near West Chicago, must remain a co-defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against a man who drank alcohol at the club before causing a deadly drunk driving accident.

The DUI crash occurred on January 4, 2006 on Illinois 25 and was caused by John Homatas, a 26-year-old Wayne resident, when his SUV crossed the center line and struck another vehicle.

The owners of the strip club had argued that it should be excluded from the Illinois wrongful death lawsuit because their business did not serve the alcohol that Homatas consumed while at the club.The club is a BYOB establishment.

However, the court ruled that the strip club owed the plaintiffs a duty of care because its workers made Homatas leave the premise after they found him throwing up in the bathroom. They also let him get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle even though they knew he was drunk.

Homatas, who was drunk and also took cocaine prior to the crash, was convicted for causing the deaths of Yorkville resident April Simmons, her 8-month old fetus, and Homatas's friend, St. Charles resident John A. Chiariello.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were 12,998 victims who died in drunk driving accidents in 2007. 434 of those deaths occurred in Illinois.

Illinois Department of Transportation Drunk Driving Facts:

? Approximately 310,000 people are injured because they were involved in drunk driving accidents.
? In 2002, 51,649 people were arrested for DUI in Illinois.

Strip club can't escape lawsuit, Daily Herald, December 4, 2008

Illinois Drunk Driving Fact Sheet, Illinois Department of Transportation

Related Web Resource:

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Full post as published by Chicago Injury Attorney Blog on December 23, 2008 (boomark / email).