Rick Pinto and Aerin Hickey successfully defended the Ramseur ABC Board in a wrongful death action arising from a motor vehicle accident involving underage drinking in Randolph County, NC, that resulted in the deaths of two minors. 

On January 13, 2025, the Estate of one of the deceased minors filed a lawsuit against the Ramseur ABC Board and other defendants, alleging that the Ramseur ABC Board was negligent, grossly negligent, and engaged in willful and wanton conduct by issuing alcohol permits/renewing alcohol permits to the gas station defendant that allegedly sold alcoholic beverages to the minors involved in the accident. 

Rick and Aerin believed that under North Carolina law, the Ramseur ABC Board was not liable for the accident. They filed a Motion for Summary Judgment, arguing that the Ramseur ABC Board neither sold nor provided alcohol to any of the minors. They further argued that under N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 18B, the authority to issue and renew alcoholic beverage permits rests with the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission, a separate legal entity from the Ramseur ABC Board. In addition, they argued that local ABC boards have no statutory duty to monitor permit holders.  

Superior Court Judge Andrew H. Hanford agreed, and last week he granted the Ramseur ABC Board’s Motion for Summary Judgment, resulting in the dismissal of the claims against it.