Aramark To Pay At Least $30M In Drunken Driving Lawsuit

Seven-year-old New Jersey resident Antonia Verni, who was paralyzed at the age of two when a “drunken driver leaving a [Giants] game” hit her family’s car, won $60M in damages from driver Daniel Lanzaro and Giants Stadium concessionaire Aramark, the company that “sold him too many beers,” according to Leo Standora of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. The family claimed Aramark vendors “illegally sold beers to Lanzaro at the stadium even though he was clearly drunk” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/19). In N.Y, Todd Venezia reports Aramark and Lanzaro were ordered to pay $30M each, but the jury will deliver another judgment today “on the amount of punitive damages the company should pay – which could send the total money figure much higher.” Aramark refused comment until after today’s judgment. Attorney David Mazie, who represented Verni, said that he “hopes this verdict will change the way beer is served at sports events in New Jersey, which he called a ‘culture of intoxication.’” Mazie: “I think that it’s a problem throughout the country in stadiums and arenas. You witnessed it in the basketball brawl in Detroit. Hopefully, this will make them more responsible too with their beer sales” (N.Y. POST, 1/19).

SETTLE UP: In Newark, Ana Alaya reports Lanzaro, who is serving a five-year jail term for vehicular assault, “does not have to pay his half of the damages” because he had already reached a settlement with the family. The Vernis rejected an out-of-court settlement from Aramark, though they did settle with the NFL, the Giants and the NJSEA (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 1/19).