Angelo J. Bongiorno and Alexys M. Carter of Bongiorno, Montiglio, Mitchell & Palmieri, PLLC were successful in obtaining dismissal for our clients, HJK 86, Inc. d/b/a Tavern on Tamaqua Green, Tamaqua Bar and Grill, Tavern on Tamaqua Greens and HJK 86, Inc. (collectively, “Tamaqua”) in the case of Klein v. Tamaqua Bar and Grill, et. al, Orange County, Justice James L. Hyer. The plaintiff, 28 years old at the time of the alleged accident, was a regular at our client’s bar. He was attending a birthday party for a friend. Also at the bar that evening was co-defendant, Steven Seaman, who was helping his friend operate his BBQ tent, which was set up in the bar’s parking lot. Shortly before midnight, the birthday boy and another friend were involved in a verbal altercation that turned physical. Once it turned physical, plaintiff involved himself in their dispute and pulled the men apart. As the plaintiff pulled his friends apart, other friends began to threaten the co-defendant, Seaman, who had come inside the bar. In order to deter the threats, Seaman wielded his pocket knife. Upon seeing this, plaintiff lunged forward towards Seaman and was cut on the forearm by the knife in the process. Plaintiff alleged inter alia that Tamaqua employed Seaman and were responsible for his acts and that the bar did not provide proper security and as a result, were responsible for the plaintiff’s injuries. We advised the plaintiff that Parent and Butryn has no personal liability and were not proper defendants in this case and plaintiff discontinued as to them prior to the close of discovery. Once discovery was complete, we moved for summary judgment arguing that Tamaqua had no duty to keep the plaintiff safe from an unforeseeable occurrence, especially when he was the intervening and superseding cause of his accident. We also argued that Seaman was not our client’s employee. The motion was granted by Judge Hyer dismissing the plaintiff’s claims our clients. Klein v. Tamaqua Bar and Grill, et al.
