South Carolina Restaurant Ordered to Pay $1 M for Fatal DUI Accident

Charleston, SC- The owners of a nationally known Charleston restaurant have agreed to pay $1.1 million to the family of a man who was killed last December in a DUI accident.

The family of Quentin Gregory Miller, 32, filed the lawsuit against Husk, a critically acclaimed restaurant in downtown Charleston, after a one of their managers caused a fiery traffic accident. Miller’s family alleges that Adam Burnell was drunk when he lost control and crashed into the rear of Miller’s vehicle on the Arthur Ravenel Bridge.

The impact of the crash slammed Miller’s car into a concrete wall, trapping him inside and igniting a blaze.  

Miller’s family filed the lawsuit in March claiming that the restaurant should have stopped Burnell from driving after they allowed him and coworkers to drink for free following their shift.

Husk agreed to pay Miller’s family and common-law wife instead of going to trial. Miller’s family will receive and common-law wife will receive $610,000 while the rest of the settlement will go for attorney’s fees. The settlement will be finalized at the end of next week.

Burnell was not named as a defendant in the case, but he is still awaiting trial for the DUI crash.

According to the NHTSA, one person is killed by a drunken driver every 51 minutes in the United States. Impaired drivers face criminal charges, but this may offer little consolation those who have lost a loved one. Families of wrongful death victims often seek out accident attorneys to recover the cost they incurred because of a fatal crash and compensation for the emotional suffering they have endured.