Hernandez

This action arises out of an automobile accident caused by the drunken driving of Hector Estrella, a minor. Plaintiffs include a surviving passenger and the relatives of passengers who died in the accident. Defendant owns the building rented by the sponsor of a dance at which alcohol was served to Estrella on the evening of the accident.

Plaintiffs appeal from the judgment entered after defendant’s motion for summary judgment was granted. They contend the trial court erred in concluding that defendant cannot be civilly liable under Business and Professions Code section 25602.1, which provides in pertinent part that a cause of action may be brought by or on behalf of any person who has suffered injury or death against any person who “causes to be sold” any alcoholic beverage to an obviously intoxicated minor where the sale of that beverage to the minor is the proximate cause of the personal injury or death. (Further section references are to the Business and Professions Code unless specified otherwise.)

We shall affirm the judgment. As we will explain, section 25602.1’s phrase “causes [alcohol] to be sold” requires an affirmative act directly related to the sale of…