Mom Sues After 5-Year-Old Served Long Island Iced Tea

The restaurant certainly did make a stupid mistake but $75,000 stupid?

I think not.

The parent, on the other hand....

Yea, 75K stupid. How on earth can you mix up APPLE JUICE and LI ICE TEA??

Exactly DrewDad!

I have seen the types glasses that Long Island Iced Teas are commonly served in. I don't know that they are served the same everywhere, but it's pretty common that speciality alcoholic drinks are served in specialty glasses. I would feel quite safe in assuming Applebee's would be one of those using specialty glasses. The mother didn't recognize this difference? Assuming there was one, that is.

I think the suit itself is absolutely ridiculous. The mother holds the bulk of the responsibility IMO because it is her child and she should know what the child is putting in its body.

The waitress made a mistake, yes. But a mistake!

If you've ever been a waiter or waitress in an extremely busy restaurant, you'd know it's easy to make mistakes. Doesn't make it right, but a mistake nonetheless.

Interesting how the kid downed the thing without complaint. Suggests how sweet LI Iced Tea must be...

It is called Long Island Ice Tea because it really does taste like iced tea. I tried one once and was very surprised. With that much alcohol, I fully expected to definitely know the difference.

It will be interesting to see if the court sees it that way.

In this case, I don't necessarily disagree with you, but there are many cases where the onus is on the restaurant to provide a proper product. For example, in the case of food poisoning, etc.

I'll try to keep an eye out for any follow-ups.

I guess "eating good in the neighborhood" has a whole new meaning... I hope the poor kid recovers okay.

Amen to that, kermit!

The onus is certainly and without dobut on the restaurant to not provide alcohol to minors.

If it happened to me and Mo I'd be furious and I'd expect reimbursement of any money I spent in the emergency room but $75,000 is a ridiculous figure.

Excuse me, but I didn't order this apple juice?

I worked in a hospital emergency room for a few years after i got out of the army. One night, a panicked babysitter brougth in two children--one was OK, she was just keeping her with her so as not to leave her home alone. But the four-year old boy was another story. He had, apparently, gotten into his father's sample case--it seems his father represented a firm that distributed cologne, perfume and aftershave. He drank a sample bottle of aftershave (3 oz. according to the bottle, which the babysitter was smart enough to bring in). The little tyke had not ingested a "non-potable" form of alcohol to a dangerously toxic extent, and we got some ipecac into him, and he threw up the rest. It was Old Spice--none of us had any doubt about that.

But the little guy was hilarious. He would get weepy now and again, but mostly he sang . . . Old MacDonald had a farm, ee eye ee eye ee eye ee eye . . . how does that go?

I really love you guys . . .

Three blind mice
Three blind mice
Three blind mice

I forget how it goes

Whoa, the room is turnin' . . .

We kept him in the treatment room right off the ER office so he was under constant surveillance, but he was such a cute, miniature parody of your garden variety occasional drunk, that we had to keep leaving the office so as not to bust out laughing in front of him.

I tend to agree with you on this one, Boom.

I suspect that the mother is trying her hand at an "out of court settlement" for a much lesser amount.

It's like selling real estate. You inflate your asking price, knowing full well that you will be bargained down somewhat.

I remember the first time I got seriously tipsy--I was older than 5--and, normally shy around adults, I became the life of the party. And a valuable lesson was learned therein.

Hey, who else wants to share their memories of kiddy drunkenness?

Thinking about this, it seems likely that the LI Iced Tea was pre-mixed. Further, that it was next to the apple juice....

I think that she is completely justified, if she can prove it. And if she doesn't win, I'd be suprised.

It is a huge offense....serving minors can cost a restaurant it's license. What if this person was 16, served and then was killed in a car accident because they were driving drunk? This story would be completely different and $75,000 would look like small potatoes.

I think that this restaurant has some serious staffing issues. Someone actually mixed up a LIIT with an apple juice. Or did it as a joke. Either way, there are some people there that just aren't smart enough to work in the food service industry.

While I agree that 75,000 is a lot of money for this, what's with pinning it on the mother? Am I supposed to taste test everything I order for my kid? What if she couldn't prove that it was a mistake by the restaurant and got in trouble herself for allowing her minor child consume alcohol? She almost has to sue.

A long island ice tea has two and a half shots of liquor in it, btw. Not exactly a gentle introduction to alcoholic consumption.

I was thinking it was served in a distinctive container.

Per my post above, it seems more likely now that they grabbed the wrong bottle from beneath the bar and used it to fill a kid's cup. Then the mom couldn't be expected to know.

(And I'd blame a dad just as much as a mom. )

Oh yeah, they taste good, and they REALLY pack a whallop. One of those drinks that you can get really faced on without even realizing it.

I don't think 75K is too much, the restaurant has insurance.

If the child drank much more, he could have suffered alcohol poisoning and died.

Set's story is funny in the way he meant it, but it could have been a lot worse.

a LI ice tea is brown like natural apple juice, and how would the mother know what kind of glass the restaurant serves its drinks in?