Tiger Woods' Florida restaurant will be inspected before trial in wrongful death lawsuit by family of bartender killed in DUI crash after work
Tiger Woods' restaurant in Florida will be inspected next month prior to a trial over the wrongful death of an employee who died in a car crash after he was allegedly over-served alcohol at work.
The parents of Nicholas Immesberger sued The Woods Jupiter restaurant last year after their 24-year-old son drove home drunk following his shift and was killed in a crash in December 2018.
Woods and his girlfriend Erica Herman, the general manager of the restaurant at the time, were initially named in the suit but were dropped a few months later.
But the golf star's nightmare has dragged on as The Woods Jupiter prepares to face trial over Immesberger's death in March 2021.
The restaurant is scheduled to be inspected on January 6, 2021, by lawyers for the plaintiffs and an expert they hired, according to court papers obtained by The Sun this week.
Tiger Woods' restaurant in Florida will be inspected next month prior to a trial over the wrongful death of an employee who died in a car crash after he was allegedly over-served alcohol at work. Woods is pictured at the PNC Championship golf tournament on Saturday
The parents of Nicholas Immesberger sued The Woods Jupiter restaurant last year after their son drove home drunk after his shift and was killed in a crash in December 2018
The Woods Jupiter is scheduled to be inspected on January 6, 2021, by lawyers for the plaintiffs and an expert they hired
In their lawsuit Immesberger's parents, Scott Duchene and Mary Belowsky, accused The Woods Jupiter of over-serving alcohol to a young man 'who they knew was suffering with the disease of alcoholism'.
On December 10, 2018, Immesberger finished his shift and continued to drink alcohol at the bar for about three hours before getting into his car with an estimated blood alcohol concentration of 0.256 - more than three times the legal limit in Florida.
His fellow employees were said to have known that he struggled with alcoholism.
He lost control of his 1999 Chevrolet Corvette on Federal Highway in Jupiter around 6pm that night, swerved across three lanes, then the car flew into the air, flipped over and crashed in the grass, according to the Palm Beach Post.
He was traveling at more than 100mph on a road with a 55mph speed limit, according to the accident report.
The report lists the cause of death as 'multiple blunt trauma injuries and the manner of death was an accident'.
It also revealed that Immesberger had traces of the cannabis component THC in his blood as well as alcohol, causing him to be 'impaired at the time of the traffic crash'.
In their lawsuit Immesberger's parents, Scott Duchene and Mary Belowsky , accused The Woods Jupiter of over-serving alcohol to a young man 'who they knew was suffering with the disease of alcoholism'
Woods and his girlfriend Erica Herman (pictured together), the general manager of the restaurant at the time, were initially named in the suit but were dropped a few months later
On December 10, 2018, Immesberger finished his shift and continued to drink alcohol at the bar for about three hours before getting into his car with an estimated blood alcohol concentration of 0.256 - more than three times the legal limit in Florida
His heartbroken parents Duchene and Belowsky filed their wrongful death lawsuit in May 2019 via the firm Craig Goldengarb of Palm Beach.
'The employees, management and owners of the Woods not only ignored Immesberger's disease, they fueled it by over-serving him alcohol to the point of severe intoxication and then sending him out to his car to drive home,' the complaint read.
'Tiger knew, or reasonably should have known, that Immesberger was habitually addicted to the use of any or all alcoholic beverages, and/or was a habitual drunkard.
'Tiger is individually liable in this action because he individually participated in the serving of alcohol.'
A month after the original suit was filed, the plaintiffs submitted a second one removing Woods as a defendant.
In a statement reacting to the amendment, Woods' attorneys said: 'The decision was clearly appropriate and reflected the fact that Mr. Woods should not have been included in the lawsuit in the first place because he had nothing to do with Mr. Immesberger's death.
'While the situation was tragic, the facts will ultimately show that the cause of Mr. Immesberger's car accident were the many decisions made by Mr. Immesberger on the night of his passing.'
The golf star shared his condolences over Immesberger's death before playing in the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black in May 2019.
'We're all very sad that Nick passed away,' Woods said. 'It was a terrible night, a terrible ending. And we feel bad for him and his entire family. It's very sad.'
In September of that year a third version of the lawsuit was filed, removing Herman as a defendant.