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Tiger Woods and his girlfriend Erica Herman, respectively the owner and general manager of the golfer’s flagship Jupiter restaurant “The Woods” in Florida, have been named in a wrongful death lawsuit, according to CNN .
CNN reports that the lawsuit says The Woods staff over-served alcohol to its 24-year-old bartender Nicholas Immesberger after his shift ended at 3 p.m. on December 10.
Immesberger then got in his Corvette, crashed en route to his home, and died at approximately 6 p.m.
His blood alcohol level at the time of death was .256, the lawsuit says , which is more than three times over the legal limit of .08.
According to USA Today , the lawsuit has been brought forward by Immesberger’s family. It is said to allege that employees at The Woods were aware the bartender had problems with alcohol, and “was a habitual drunkard.”
The lawsuit reads: “The employees and management at The Woods had direct knowledge that Immesberger had a habitual problem with alcohol.
“In fact, employees and managers knew that Immesberger had attended Alcoholic Anonymous meetings prior to the night of his crash and was attempting to treat his disease. Despite this, the employees and management at The Woods continued to serve Immesberger alcohol while he was working as well as after work, while he sat at the bar.”
USA Today reports that under state alcohol laws the American golfer “potentially could be held liable as an owner of the establishment even if he wasn’t physically at the venue.”
The lawsuit, which says that Herman recruited Immesberger, adds that Immesberger’s alcoholism was “so bad” that one of his friends asked staff at The Woods not to serve Immesberger alcohol.
It also says that Woods and Herman socialized and drank with Immesberger “only a few nights before the fatal crash of December 10.”
The lawsuit seeks in excess of $15,000, according to USA Today. Business Insider has contacted Woods’ representatives at “The Woods” but is yet to receive a reply.
Woods is currently preparing to compete in the PGA Championship, one of golf’s four major competitions, at Bethpage Black Course in New York this week. It is his first tournament since winning The Masters last month .
