The widows of two men killed in a collision caused by an impaired driver in 2022 are seeking a total of $2.75 million in wrongful death lawsuits against Chuck's Roadhouse Bar and Grill on Hespeler Road.
Randy Turenne, 51, was killed just before midnight on May 12, 2022 when Justin Maurice's Hyundai Genesis struck Turenne's Toyota at a high rate of speed as he attempted to make a left turn into a private driveway on Hespeler Road.
Police said Maurice was doing 164 km/hr in the 60 km/hr zone just before his car struck the passenger side the Toyota, causing it to roll.
Maurice’s blood alcohol content was between 158 to 180 mg/100 ml, or approximately over twice the legal limit.
Randy was pronounced dead at the scene, as was Maurice's passenger, Alexander Brown, 30.
Maurice was convicted last November for two counts of impaired driving causing death.
In May, the Welland man was sentenced to seven years in prison in a Kitchener courtroom.
In a $1 million civil suit filed in Kitchener in January, Randy's widow Kimberley Turenne claims Chuck's Roadhouse was negligent in over-serving alcohol to Maurice, who was 21 at the time of the accident.
In a separate $1.75 million lawsuit filed in Toronto last month, Brown's widow and extended family also names Chuck's Roadhouse as a defendant along with three insurance companies and Turenne's estate, claiming several parties were negligent in causing the Pickering man's death.
Their lawsuit claims Randy Turenne was either driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol, ill, suffering a medical condition, or fatigued at the time of the accident and should have been able to prevent what happened had he been a competent driver operating a roadworthy vehicle.
It also claims a defendant identified as "John Doe" permitted Turenne to drive "when he knew or ought to have known" Turenne wasn't properly licensed and his vehicle wasn't in working order.
None of the claims have been tested in court and statements of defence have yet to be filed for any of the named defendants.
CambridgeToday reached out to the lawyers representing the plaintiffs in both lawsuits but did not immediately hear back from the lawyer representing Brown's widow and family.
Kimberley Turenne's lawsuit admits Randy's vehicle insurance policy had expired.
Both lawsuits against Chuck's parent companies Obsidian Group Inc. and Pure Vision Hospitality claim the restaurant continued to sell alcohol to Maurice when employees ought to have known he was intoxicated.
A statement of defence filed with Turenne's lawsuit against Chuck's denies that claim and challenges the plaintiff to provide proof.
It says fault for the accident lies squarely with Maurice and that its employees, "at all material times, acted in a prudent and lawful manner in serving alcohol to its patrons and were Smart Serve certified."
The restaurant owners suggest Maurice became intoxicated after purchasing and consuming alcohol "elsewhere."
In an email to CambridgeToday, Graham Bennet, the lawyer representing Kimberley Turenne in her lawsuit against Chuck's, said he couldn't comment on the action since it's in their early stages and remains before the court
He offered the general observation "that impaired driving and over-service of alcohol where it occurs can have a devastating effect on the lives of those directly involved, their families, and on innocent people who are 'in the wrong place at the wrong time.'"
A date to hear either case has not been set.
