Another Restaurant Serves Alcohol to a Child

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Within the past year, at least three restaurants have mistakenly served alcohol to children. This time, an Olive Garden in Indianapolis gave a 10-year-old boy a rum drink. Olive-garden

The boy drank half of what he thought was a non-alcoholic Wildberry Frullato drink before his family became concerned. After seeing his "increasingly strange behavior," he was taken to the hospital.

In a statement, Olive Garden said that the server had been fired:

"We find this situation completely unacceptable and we are extremely upset that this occurred. We have a zero-tolerance policy for any violation of our responsible alcohol service policy, and the employee who served the wrong drink has been terminated. We are thankful that the child is OK, and we will continue to work with the family to resolve this issue."

About a year ago, an Olive Garden in Orlando served sangria in a sippy cup to a two-year-old. This incident was just days after an Applebee's in Detroit accidentally spiked a 15-month-old boy's apple juice.

Discussion Starters:  

  • How do you assess Olive Garden's statement, particularly the part about their "zero-tolerance policy"?
  • In your opinion, was the restaurant's termination of the server appropriate? Why or why not?