Question

New Look Club, Inc., operates a tavern in Indiana. In April 2010, Mary Smith and other minors gained admission by misrepresenting themselves to be at least twenty-one years old. According to the club’s representatives, the minors used false driver’s licenses, “fraudulent transfer of a stamp used to gain admission by another patron or other means of false identification.” To gain access, the minors also signed affidavits falsely attesting to the fact that they were aged twenty-one or older. When the state filed criminal charges against the club, the club filed a suit in an Indiana state court against Smith and more than two hundred others, charging that they had misrepresented their ages and seeking damages of $3,000 each. The minors filed a motion to dismiss the complaint.

Should the court grant the motion?

What are the competing policy interests in this case?

If the club was not careful in checking minors’ identification, should it be allowed to recover?

If the club reasonably relied on the minors’ represrepresentations, should the minors be allowed to avoid liability? Discuss.

Answer 1

The court should not dismiss the New Look Club Inc, complaint against the minors. The policy principle at the heart of this case is that a person should not be allowed to profit from his or her wrongful act by, for example, avoiding or imposing liability on the basis of that act. The minors' wrongful acts consist of the misrepresentations of their ages. The Club's wrongful act may have been a failure to reasonably check its customers' identification. Allowing the Club to recover in this case might discourage tavern owners from being careful when checking their customers' identification, which could undermine efforts to prevent minors from patronizing taverns. But permitting the minors to avoid liability would encourage the use of fraudulent identification to gain access to drinking establishments. Ultimately, if the Club acted reasonably and did not aid the minors' in their fraud, then the minors should bear the consequences.