The parents of a woman who died in a fatal car accident have sued the woman's employer, claiming that the business allowed and encouraged her to consume alcohol during her shift and then drive home intoxicated.

The fatal drunk driving accident occurred in August after the woman finished her shift as a waitress at a Beaumont restaurant. According to the lawsuit, the restaurant encourages its employees to drink while they are on duty in an effort to increase the restaurant's profits. The woman had therefore been consuming alcohol during her shift. Further, the restaurant allegedly continued to sell alcohol to the woman even after she had become visibly intoxicated, the suit claims.

After her shift, another restaurant employee walked the woman out to her car and allowed her to drive away, despite the fact that she was noticeably drunk. On the way home, the woman collided head-on with a tractor-trailer. She was pronounced dead at the scene, and a post-mortem blood test showed her blood alcohol level to be more than twice the legal limit.

The woman's parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the restaurant on behalf of themselves and the woman's two minor children. In the suit, they claim that the restaurant negligently served alcohol to the woman and allowed her to drive despite the fact that she was clearly drunk. "[The restaurant] profits handsomely as a result of its policy to financially incentivize employees to consume alcohol on the job," they claim in the suit. "It cannot then turn a blind eye when one of those employees gets in their vehicle and drives home intoxicated."

Source: SE Texas Record, "Gold Club waitress killed while driving home intoxicated, parents sue," David Yates, Oct. 10, 2011