Martell's Sued For $1M As Patron Blames Drunken Fall On Being Overserved At Tiki Bar

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, NJ — A Union County woman has filed suit against Martell's Tiki Bar, claiming she was served alcohol despite being visibly drunk, leading to a severe injury in a fall at the bar.

Mary Santoro of Westfield filed the lawsuit June 7 in Superior Court in Union County, seeking $1 million in damages for unspecified injuries she suffered in the fall she alleges happened at the bar on July 14, 2022.

In the lawsuit, Santoro alleges she was "negligently, carelessly, willfully, and recklessly served and sold intoxicating substances by Defendants while she obviously was in a visibly intoxicated state."

New Jersey state law allows bars and restaurants to be held liable if someone who is served alcohol while visibly drunk then causes damage or injury as a result of the drunkenness.

Santoro's lawsuit says she slipped and/or tripped at Martell's, and that the bar ownership should have been aware of and should have fixed the hazard that led to her fall.

The lawsuit does not indicate where she fell at Martell's and does not give any indication of what part of her body she injured in the fall. It describes the injuries as "severe" and "permanent" and says she is unable to work as a result.

An email to Santoro's attorney, Jeremy Hylton of the Brach Eichler law firm in Roseville, seeking additional comment was not immediately returned on Wednesday.

An email to Christopher Conover of Ahmuty, Demers and McManus of Morristown, the attorney representing Martell's Tiki Bar, seeking comment was not immediately answered.

In a written reply to the lawsuit, Martell's rejects claims that it is responsible for Santoro's injuries and says they happened due to negligence on her part.

Martell's had its liquor license suspended for a month in 2015 and paid a $500,000 fine in connection with a 2013 fatal crash in Old Bridge where a woman had been overserved at the tiki bar while she was visibly intoxicated.

Ashley Cheico, 26, of Wood-Ridge, was drinking at Martell’s on Aug. 16, 2013. When she left the bar, she got into an SUV she did not own and on Route 18, crashed head-on into a car driven by Dana Corrar. Cheico was killed in the crash and Corrar suffered multiple injuries, according to Old Bridge police reports.

In addition to the license suspension, Martell's was required to have all of its staff undergo safe service alcohol training. It also was required to have a compliance monitor approved by the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control and paid for by Martell’s, who would be in place for as long as the owners held an interest in the liquor license. There are no indications the owners have sold the license.