Spring Break and Graduation Parties Potential Liability

This time of year (especially in St. Petersburg and other Florida beach cities), is a popular one for spring break gatherings for teenagers, and that includes 20 year olds.  The drinking age in Florida is 21, and obviously there are many drugs out there that are illegal at any age.  In a few weeks graduation parties will follow.  If your property is going to host such an event be forewarned there are legal dangers lurking.  We all used to be "underage", and should understand all of the potentially bad things that can occur at such gatherings.  Underage drinking is the most likely, and certainly drug abuse is also possible.  Both can lead to car accidents, drunk driving charges, sexual assaults, slip and fall injuries and adverse medical reactions to name but a few.

What you might not realize, is that as the "host" can be liable due to the "Open House Party" law, found in the Florida Statutes at Section 856.015.  It states:  No person having control of any residence shall allow an open house party to take place at said residence if any alcoholic beverage or drug is in the possession of or being consumed by a minor at said residence and where the person fails to take reasonable steps to prevent the possession or consumption of the alcoholic beverage or drug."

Florida courts have held that this imposes civil liability on social hosts, so if something bad happens you can get sued.  All that would need to be "proved" is that an adult allowed a social gathering at a residence in which he knew or should have known alcohol or drugs were possessed or consumed by someone underage, and failed to take reasonable steps to prevent it.

Florida Courts have not yet defined "social gathering", "knowledge" or "reasonable steps" yet, but you could argue that any big gathering of teenagers that is not strictly supervised inparts "knowledge" that drinking is going to occur, and "reasonable steps" might require pat down searches and constant supervision by multiple adults or even hiring a uniformed security guard.

So be careful, and take an honest look at what potentially might happen before you put yourself in this situation.