Ohio Bartender Fired For Calling Cops On Drunk-Driving Customer

Huff Po: An Ohio bartender has been fired for what the local police chief says was the right decision.

Twyla DeVito, who called the police on a patron who was later found to be driving while “a little over twice the legal limit,” was told by her employer at the American Legion Post in Shelby, Ohio, that she would be let go as a result, according to 10TV News. DeVito says she was told that “‘it’s bad for business to have a bartender that will call the cops.’”

(Read what local police had to say about the situation at 10TV News)

But while DeVito faces unemployment as a result of trying to pull a drunk driver off the street, it may have been the right decision anyway: Police recently arrested a Texas bartender after undercover officers found her providing a patron with a few too many drinks, according to ABC affiliate KTRK in Houston.

(Firing bartenders for dealing with customers happens at even the most upscale of restaurants. P. J. Clarke's in Manhattan reportedly let go a famed bartender last year for attempting, unsuccessfully, to deal with an intoxicated man who was harassing other customers.)

DeVito’s employer, for its part, apparently stands by the decision. “If every patron who comes in here has to worry about the cops waiting for them when they leave, the place would be empty,” Mic Hubbard, a commander of the post, told 10TV News.

Drunk driving remains a serious problem across the country. More than 10,000 people died in the U.S. as a direct result of driving drunk in 2010, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. And 341 of those deaths reportedly occurred in Ohio, one of only 16 states where the problem was getting worse, not better, as of 2010, according to the The Columbia Dispatch.

A 2008 survey found roughly one-fifth of people over 16 years old had driven within two hours of having a drink at some point within the past year.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

 

Comments

[Fluttershy]

Good on her! I would do the same thing. The boss is an idiot, he's effectivly promoting drink driving! (As long as nobody knows, it's ok!)

[The Last Archimedean]

After all this negative publicity the boss is getting, and deservedly so, it wouldn't shock me if they humbly ask her if she wants her job back. There's no way a bartender should be fired for keeping people safe.

[Mel the Library Slave]

WTF?! So her ex-boss would rather have drunk people driving and endangering the lives of everyone else on the road?

[Sales Agent Guy]

If this isn't wrongful termination, then I'm a coyote's nephew!

[cashierbtch]

damned if you do damned if you don't. if I sell alcohol to a customer who is drunk, or dies because of the alcohol I sold him, I could be liable. I'd assume the same is true for a bartender. Good for her for saving both the life of the dumbass drunk driver and the people who he could have potentially hit.

[Humor_Me]

Most states now have laws where the bars are liable if the drunk driver injures or kills another person. Wonder how the bar owner would feel if he was in the middle of a lawsuit?

[KennelKitty]

Good lord. That bartender was doing exactly what she needed to. She did the right thing and her idiot of a boss fires her for it? Maybe karma will catch up to him and he will get into an accident with a drunk driver!

[Skittles]

I love the logic. If people stop coming into the bussiness because they are worried the cops will be outside than obviously they are planning to drive drunk and should not be allowed to purchase alcohol. Seriously I've never worried about seeing cops in a bar much less waiting outside because I don't drive drunk.

[Sarah Park]

That was so stupid of the boss to fire her after doing what is right. Wish she'll find another job with a better boss.

[Michael Chandra]

Time for the cops to drop in at that place five times a week, or stay outside and make anyone leaving take a breathalyzer test. Let's see how fast the owner stops defending letting drunks drive.

[Perky]

IF I could fire bomb a place it would be that bar; preferably with the bar owner still inside. 30 years ago a bartender let a drunk driver leave their bar without calling for a ride or calling the police; in fact the bartender gave the man a six-pack "for the ride home."

less than half an hour latter that drunk driver (who was more that 4 times the legal limit) had a front end collision with the car that had my family members in it. The drunk's truck when up and over the passenger's side where my grandfather was sitting. This sweet man who always brought me roses, and gave me free cokes from his gas station was killed instantly when the force of the truck sheared off the top his his head. My little sister (who is now 36 years old) still has nightmares about her grandfather being headless*

My Aunt and baby brother were in the back seat. My baby brother was only 11 months old. Both of the were thrown through the windshield and died instantly. They were so horribly cut up we had to have a close casket funeral for them. We decided to bury them together in the same casket.

My grandmother, who was driving, Nana...she was the most amazing woman. A good old country woman who helped build ships in the Navy yard during WWII. She was the most amazing cook, love to garden, knew a sure-fire home remedy for every aliment you could think of--was thrown so hard against the steering wheel that her lungs collapsed. She lived for about a week before dying from her injuries.

The fall out from that one drunk driver has had horrible effect on my family that was far reaching that anyone could imagine. My mother started drinking to dull the pain of loosing an infant. My father was called to id the bodies. The bodies of his mom, step-dad, sister and baby boy. I don't know why the did that to him, but it caused him to go near insane.

I believe the stress of dealing with the after-math of that wreck was on the major factors leading to my parents divorce.

*The part about my sister's nightmare--this is something we can not understand. For years she would wake up screaming saying that she dreamt that "pappy had no head" but it wasn't until we were teenagers that we learned that the wreck did to him. But for some reason she dream it. Even at 36 years old she says she still gets that nightmare on occasion.

To me that woman who was fired is a hero. And if there is a fund being collected to help her while she finds a new job, I will gladly donate. And I hope that if anyone out there ever thinks about drinking and driving--remember my story and don't.

[Queer Geek]

I want the name of the boss to be revealed. I hope he or she receives tons of hate mail for promoting drunk driving or better yet, I would love for some drunk ass to mow the boss down after dropping a few!

[NC Tony]

I hope people do stop going to that bar and the asshole manager is forced to close it down. Of course if that was me I would have thrown a fit, and used the words "sue" and "lawsuit" a lot.

[Karebear]

@Perky, I'm so sorry about your family. That's horrible. My uncle was killed by a drunk driver too, but was before I was born. My mom said it changed my grandmother, I just never knew her as anything else. I'm really sorry. *internet hugs*

I have to agree though. This lady is a hero. I hope her former boss gets what he deserves, a lawsuit, no business, and the loss of his business.

[Bored at the Bookstore]

"Dear Twyla,

Thank you. Your actions may well have saved several innocent lives. You deserve praise - and a big hug - and a better boss. God bless you.

Sincerely,
Bored at the Bookstore"

[Cheryl]

If she hadn't CONTINUED to serve him maybe he wouldn't have been so intoxicated!!!!!! Yes, he shouldn't drink and drive. But it was her choice to continue to serve him!!!! She is an adult and should be responsible for her actions of serving him as well. It is against the LAW for a bartender to serve a already intoxicated customer and she willingly admits she did exactly that. Maybe Shelby police should read the law and charge her accordingly!!!!!
I know I have cut off many customers over the years some appreciate it later some get mad but I stand by my choices too!!!!!!

[Durango Deli Slave]

I agree she shouldn't have kept serving him, but for all she knew he was going to call a cab or have someone drive him home, but I think if she had known he was planning on driving himself she wouldn't have continued serving him.

[Chicajojobe]

Are you kidding me???
Never thought a bleeding-heart hippy like myself would be arguing personal responsibility, but it's the bartender's fault because she served him alcohol and he got drunk?
Give me a break! She didn't hold him down and force drinks down his throat. He's the one who did the drinking.

He was too drunk to judge that you say?
He went into the bar, presumably while sober; he ordered the first drink; he chose to drink it. Even if one was enough to impair his judgment enough that he couldn't decide 'hey I've had enough' or 'I should call a cab instead of driving home' that's on him! He's responsible for his drinking, not the bartender.
Besides, based on her boss's reaction, if she'd cut him off she probably would have been fired for that too!

[Evie]

I don't understand. Isn't it standard practice to report a possible drunk driver? Where I'm from, if you're at the hometown bar and you look like you're about to break the law, they take your goddamned keys and call you a cab, no ifs ands or buts.

[The Worst]

Twyla saved lives that night - probably even that drunk idiot's. She deserves a raise, a promotion, and a shiny medal. And an all expense paid trip to the Bahamas.

@Perky - Sending lots of love and internet hugs your way!

[HellZoneManager]

Well, if the police say she did the right thing, and then her boss fired her to protect the "rights" of partrons to drive drunk without being reported,why don't the police show up every single night until the bar closes for good?