Homeowner Sues Restaurant, Management and Employee After Alleged Drunk Driving

A homeowner filed a civil suit after a restaurant employee allegedly drove the homeowner’s vehicle while intoxicated, an incident dated Feb 24, 2026, according to local civil claims. The complaint names the employee identified in local reporting as the person who drove the car and also lists the restaurant and its management as defendants for allegedly instructing or permitting the conduct.

The complaint, lodged in local civil court after the Feb 24 incident, identifies three categories of defendants: the homeowner as plaintiff, the individual restaurant employee identified by local reporting, and the restaurant’s management. The civil claims specifically allege that management instructed or permitted the employee to operate the owner’s vehicle while intoxicated, language central to the plaintiff’s theory of liability.

Local reporting that first identified the employee as the driver is reflected in the court filing, which traces the sequence of events to the Feb 24 episode. The suit does not, in the public court documents reviewed, set out criminal charges; instead the homeowner pursues civil remedies and holds both the individual worker and the restaurant’s supervisory structure responsible for the decision to put the intoxicated employee behind the wheel.

The allegation that management instructed or permitted the conduct is the clearest factual hook in the filing. By naming restaurant management alongside the individual employee, the homeowner’s claims frame the incident as one tied to workplace direction or acquiescence, rather than an isolated act by an off-duty worker. Those specific accusations are what tie the restaurant itself into the case rather than limiting liability to the employee alone.

The litigation remains pending as of Feb 26, 2026, and the court record available in local civil filings contains the plaintiff’s detailed allegations about the Feb 24 event. No court ruling or damages award has been reported yet. The case will proceed through the local civil process and is likely to shape how similar allegations that involve an employer’s role are pleaded and defended in the restaurant sector.