Parents sue club in DWI death
A Houston family has sued a nightclub for allegedly serving alcohol to their underage daughter, an exotic dancer there, before she died in a wreck in June 2017.
The parents of Alanna Luengas allege that the Splendor Gentleman’s Club in the Willowbrook area routinely provided the 18year-old dancer drinks to “loosen up,” then allowed her to get in her car at the end of the night on June 25.
When she crashed, she had a blood-alcohol concentration of .23, nearly three times the legal limit, according to the lawsuit.
“Our grief is barely tolerable,” her parents, Jade James and John Luengas, said in a statement. “She was beautiful, funny, remarkably self-confident, friendly and had a way of putting a smile on everyone’s face. It’s impossible for our hearts to understand that we will never touch her, smell her, or see her ever again.”
The suit seeks $10 million in damages.
Tory Taylor, an attorney representing the club, declined to comment, citing the pending litigation. The club has denied the allegations in written responses filed in court.
“This case is a long way from over,” Taylor said.
The Luengas family’s attorneys
said that for most of the night, the teen was with a 55-year-old who was a “frequent, and favored, customer of Splendor.”
Managers brought free alcoholic drinks and shots to the table, the lawsuit alleges. The patron then bought more. He paid for 17 alcoholic beverages and a bottle of champagne, according to the suit.
“Splendor managers and waitstaff served Alanna with many drinks,” the second amended petition of the lawsuit states. “As a result, Alanna became visibly drunk, left Splendor in her vehicle, and met her death shortly after.”
The night of the crash, Splendor wasn’t enforcing a policy requiring workers to sign out with their managers, the lawsuit alleges.
Luengas got in her car around 2 a.m., even though she clearly “presented a danger to herself and others,” the lawsuit states.
Luengas made an unsafe lane change while driving home in the 11600 block of Katy Freeway. She hit a vehicle, lost control and then hit a second vehicle, according to police reports. She then struck a concrete barrier head on and died, her parents’ attorneys said.
The teen’s parents argue that her employer had a duty to take reasonable care to prevent her from driving when she left the club. They weren’t aware that she was working there until the night of the crash, and have since heard that their daughter intended to stop working there after about one month of employment. The club’s operation’s manager said he had no comment on the lawsuit.
Luengas was legally of age to work at the club. Previous efforts to raise the age have failed.
Splendor became the source of a Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission investigation months after the crash. The agency received an anonymous citizen complaint in February 2018 regarding the wreck and conducted undercover operations at the establishment. Investigators didn’t find any violations and the complaint was closed, spokesman Chris Porter said.
The club has been fined on several occasions, according to state records. Between 2002 and 2011, Splendor paid more than $44,000 in fines for violations including soliciting alcoholic beverages, possessing/permitting the possession of drugs, lewd acts or exposure of a person and place or manner of prostitution. No violations have been recorded since 2011.
James and Luengas said they hope the lawsuit will help them discover exactly what happened to their daughter that night, and to hold the club responsible.
“By doing so, we hope that this lawsuit will result in a meaningful change in how this particular club operates, as well as any other clubs that choose to hire 18-yearolds to work for them,” they said. “If this lawsuit prevents even one family from having to go through the extreme pain and anguish that we have endured, then it is the least we can do to honor Alanna’s memory.”