BARTENDER ON A BENDER SUES THE BARS THAT 'OVER-SERVED' HIM

Bradley Roger Johnson has filed a personal injury action, accusing several Vancouver bars of negligence in serving him alcohol while he was already inebriated.

Over about four hours on Aug. 23, 2016, beginning after his shift ended at the Kingston Taphouse and Grille at 11 p.m., he says he drank: two double vodka and sodas, two Strongbow ciders, two shots of whiskey, four 12-ounce Lonetree ciders, a double vodka and soda, a shot of Jameson whiskey, three double vodka and sodas, three shots of whiskey and one unidentified shot.

He had his first two drinks before he left the Kingston, and downed his last one at the Roxy Cabaret on Granville Street. He then started to walk home. He fell backwards, hitting his head on the sidewalk, and now the claim he has filed with the B.C. Supreme Court states he was left with a “severe brain injury.”

He's seeking damages for health care-related costs and loss of earning capacity. He had to rely on his parents for recuperative support.

He left the Kingston at 11:30 p.m., when he walked over to Studio Lounge and Nightclub, also on Granville, where he says he had two ciders and two shots of whiskey.

Relish, on Nelson Street, came an hour later. Johnson ordered “approximately four 12-ounce Lonetree ciders, a double vodka and soda and a shot of Jameson Whiskey.”

At 2:15 a.m., he then wandered back to Granville Street, winding up his night at the Roxy Cabaret, where between 2:20 a.m. and 3:10 a.m. he had three rounds — where each round was a double vodka and soda and a whiskey shot — at three different bars within the establishment, as well a “further unidentified shot.”

The lawsuit alleges he left the Roxy in a state of “extreme intoxication” and injured himself shortly after.

“There is both a legal and a common law prohibition against over-serving alcohol beverages ... a visibly intoxicated patron should never be served more alcohol,” the lawsuit reads.

None of the allegations in his lawsuit has been proven, and both The Roxy and Studio have denied Johnson's version of events.

The Roxy, where Johnson was a regular patron, said he was neither over-served nor visibly intoxicated when he left.

“If the plaintiff was intoxicated at the time he departed The Roxy, which is expressly denied, the plaintiff left The Roxy in the care and company of persons who were, or alternatively who reasonably appeared to be, sober,” the 2019 response reads.