BROOKLYN, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) - A New York entertainment venue won't be given compensation for being forced to stop selling alcohol in the wee small hours of New Year's Day morning.
Eris Evolution lost their case last year when Brooklyn federal judge Frederic Block denied its request for a preliminary injunction. Because New Year's 2023 fell on a Sunday, bars were forced to stop selling booze from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m.
The New York State Liquor Authority had refused to shed normal Sunday drinking laws just because of the holiday. Block affirmed its right to do so in November 2022, but Eris kept the case alive well into this year.
"New Year's Eve is not a day of rest for most New Yorkers," the lawsuit said. "There is no secular purpose behind the prohibition of All-Night Permits on New Year's Sundays."
Eris' new theory said it was entitled to damages from Liquor Authority chairman Vincent Bradley for being forced to close for four hours.
Bradley cannot be liable for damages in his official capacity 'because neither a State nor its officials acting in their official capacities are persons under (federal law),'' Block wrote.
"In any event, 'the Eleventh Amendment bars the award of money damages against state officials in their official capacities.'"