UPEC Supported Bill on Governors Desk

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

SACRAMENTO - Adults who provide alcohol to minors at parties may soon be facing expensive lawsuits in addition to arrest.

The Teen Alcohol Safety Act of 2010, or AB2486, would allow party hosts to be sued if they serve alcohol to a minor who is subsequently injured or killed. The bill, authored by Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, received bipartisan support in the Legislature and is now awaiting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signature.

“It’s a rare opportunity in public service to be able to author legislation that literally could save someone’s life,” Feuer said. “This is one of those bills, as we know from the tragedies that precede it. The stakes are very high here.” The bill was enacted in part as a response to the death of Shelby Lyn Allen, a 17-year-old from Redding who died in 2008 from alcohol poisoning after she drank vodka at a friend’s house while the parents were in their bedroom. A national survey released in March showed that the number of 9th through 12th-graders who reported drinking alcohol within the past month rose 11 percent between 2008 and 2009.

UPEC Business Manager Chris Darker who also serves as the Vice President for the Shelby Lyn Allen Alcohol Poisoning Education Foundation, is pleased with the Legislatures response to the Bill and getting it to the Governor in this session.

“This Bill will save lives and bring accountability and awareness of this growing problem to parents and children”, said Darker.  “Underage drinking is not acceptable whether it’s a child’s parent or not. I think it’s unfortunate that there are people who think as long as their children and your children consume alcoholic beverages under their roof that underage drinking is safe”, said Darker.

The Shelby Lyn Allen Alcohol Poisoning Education Foundation has found that many parents are just uniformed about the dangers of excessive drinking practices by teens and just how little it takes for their children to be poisoned. “There are others who could care less about our kid’s health and safety so I guess you can say there is a program for everyone now”, said Darker.

Steve Allen, Senior Labor Relations Representative for UPEC Local 792, and his wife Debbie lost their daughter Shelby on December 20, 2008 to alcohol poisoning and have been working to educate parents and teens on the dangers of alcohol while testifying on several occasions in Sacramento as the Bill worked it’s way through the halls of the capitol.

Feuer said the goal of the bill was not to create new liability for the sake of a lawsuit. “It would be my hope that the liability provisions of this legislation are never pursued in court because no further instances arise where adults provide alcohol to kids,” Feuer said.