Sorry, Charlie: Davies' lawsuit ignores his own poor decisions

October 22nd, 2011

by Eric Slack

This is a tough article to write. I have nothing but the utmost respect for Charlie Davies and his bravery in coming back from an accident that almost killed him. But something rubs me the wrong way about the recent $20 million lawsuit filed against the owner of a nightclub and the company that hosted the party that Davies was at the night he was injured.

Photo by Chris Aduama

The suit blames the nightclub and party host for over-serving the driver. First off, liquor stores, bars and restaurants are all responsible for over-serving their patrons. If customers are visibly intoxicated, the establishment must cease serving them. I have a ton of sympathy for the family of Ashley Roberta, who was killed in the accident, and for Davies, who was severely injured and had his career derailed. It isn't that I don't understand the reason for the lawsuit, nor do I think that the nightclub and party host shouldn't be held responsible.

Ultimately, it was Davies who chose to get in the car after choosing to break team rules by drinking the night before a game past curfew. $20 million is a lot of money, and Davies long-term career prospects are muddled at best. He had a so-so season with DC United, his loan is up, and his prospects in Europe are dubious. He will probably be back in MLS next year, but who knows if he will ever return to the form that made him one of the brightest American prospects in a long time.

I understand the reasoning behind the lawsuit, and I wouldn't be surprised at all to learn that the driver of the car, Maria Alejandra Espinoza, was served booze when she shouldn't have been. But the tragedy of that night was that many people made bad decisions. Charlie Davies was one of them. Had he followed team rules, he never would have been in the position that he found himself in, he never would have been injured, and his life wouldn't have been changed so dramatically.