Winn Dixie Case Rejected

We Remember, Inc.

Wednesday, July 3, 2002
Court rejects Winn-Dixie case

By Paul Woolverton
Raleigh bureau
RALEIGH -- Julius and Belinda Storch of Fayetteville have won another round in their lawsuit against the Winn-Dixie grocery chain over their son’s alcohol-related death.
The state Supreme Court refused to take up Winn-Dixie’s appeal in the case, said lawyer Ronnie Mitchell of Fayetteville, who represents the Storches.
Barring a federal appeal, which Mitchell said is unlikely, the Storches will be awarded $100,000 plus interest, Mitchell said. Previously, a Superior Court and the state Court of Appeals upheld the Storches’ case under North Carolina’s “dram shop” law.
This law says people can collect damages from a business that illegally sells alcohol to a minor if the minor causes them injury.
The Storches sued Winn-Dixie because their son, Jason Paul Storch, bought beer illegally at a Winn-Dixie store in Boone in 1998, got drunk, and crashed his car into a utility pole. The store clerk didn’t check whether he was of age to buy alcohol. He was 18.
A Winn-Dixie spokesman was unaware of the Supreme Court decision on Tuesday afternoon. He said he would inquire whether the company has a response and whether it will appeal.
Winn-Dixie had contended that the parents couldn’t legally be considered an aggrieved party under the dram shop law. A three-judge N.C. Court of Appeals panel unanimously rejected Winn-Dixie’s claim in March. Winn-Dixie asked the Supreme Court to review the ruling, but it chose not to.
The Supreme Court decision elated Julius Storch. “Words cannot explain the feeling,” he said. “It seems like they continually tried to drag it on and drag it on. It seems like we finally reached the end of the tunnel, you might say. It’s really good news.”
The case should send a message to alcohol vendors throughout the state that they are responsible if they sell alcohol to minors, Storch said. Some retailers have gotten better at training and policing their employees, but not all, he said.
Storch is a command sergeant major at Fort Bragg. Since his son’s death, he has become active in state and national efforts to curb underage drinking.
Staff writer Paul Woolverton can be reached at (919) 828-7641 or woolvertonp@fayettevillenc.com

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