Mullen et al v. QuikTrip Corporation

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
EASTERN DIVISION
MARTIN MULLEN, et al., 	)
)
Plaintiffs, 	)
)
vs. 	) 	Case No. 4:25 CV 1352 CDP
)
QUIKTRIP CORP., 	)
)
Defendant. 	)
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
Plaintiffs were seriously injured in a car accident caused by drunk driver
Simon Domingo-Teodoro. Domingo-Teodoro was already drunk1 and belligerent
when he purchased two large cans of Four Loko, an alcoholic malt beverage, from
a QuikTrip convenience store in St. Peters, Missouri. He then sat in his car in the
QuikTrip parking lot, drinking his Four Loko and starting fights with other
customers. After a customer called the police, Domingo-Teodoro drove away from
the QuikTrip and caused the accident which injured the plaintiffs.
Plaintiffs filed the instant petition in state court, asserting claims of
negligence, negligence per se, and loss of consortium against QuikTrip under
Missouri law. QuikTrip timely removed the action to this Court, invoking this
1 Before he stopped at QuikTrip, Domingo-Teodoro had gone to work inebriated, refused a
sobriety test, and then drove away. His employer immediately called the St. Peters police to
report that he was driving drunk, but the police failed to locate him prior to the accident.
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Court’s diversity jurisdiction. QuikTrip now moves to dismiss the action under
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), claiming that plaintiffs’ claims are
exclusively governed and foreclosed by Missouri’s Dram Shop Act, Mo. Rev. Stat.
537.053. ECF 7, 8. Plaintiffs filed their opposition to dismissal in accordance
with the time limitations set forth by the Court’s October 1, 2025, Memorandum
and Order to Show Cause (ECF 11), and QuikTrip filed a reply brief in support of
dismissal. ECF 18, 19.
The purpose of a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) is to test the legal
sufficiency of the complaint. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). When reviewing a Rule
12(b)(6) motion, I assume that the allegations in the complaint are true, and I
construe the complaint in plaintiff’s favor. See Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550
U.S. 544, 555-56 (2007). I am not bound to accept as true, however, a legal
conclusion couched as a factual allegation. Id. at 555.
To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual
matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief “that is plausible on its face.”
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). The factual allegations must be
sufficient “to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Parkhurst v.
Tabor, 569 F.3d 861, 865 (8th Cir. 2009) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555).
More than labels and conclusions are required. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555. A
claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads sufficient factual content that
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allows the court to draw the “reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for
the misconduct alleged.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678.
Having reviewed the allegations of the petition in light of the relevant
standards, QuikTrip’s motion to dismiss must be granted. Missouri follows “the
common law of England, to prohibit dram shop liability and to follow the common
law rule that furnishing alcoholic beverages is not the proximate cause of injuries
inflicted by intoxicated persons.” Mo. Rev. Stat. § 537.053.1 (2025). However,
Missouri’s Dram Shop Act provides a limited exception by allowing a cause of
action against “any person licensed to sell intoxicating liquor by the drink for
consumption on the premises . . . if the seller . . . knowingly served intoxicating
liquor to a visibly intoxicated person.” See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 537.053.2 (2025).
Because QuikTrip is not licensed to sell liquor by the drink for consumption on the
premises, it argues that the common law rule (that furnishing alcoholic beverages
is not the proximate cause of plaintiffs’ injuries) applies and bars plaintiffs’ claims.
In Trammell v. Mathis, the Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the
dismissal of claims against QuikTrip under circumstances similar to the instant
case. See Trammell v. Mathis, 744 S.W.2d 474 (Mo. Ct. App. 1987). In
Trammell, a plaintiff brought suit against QuikTrip alleging that it negligently
sold liquor to a driver who then caused a motor vehicle accident while
intoxicated. 	Id. The trial court dismissed the claim against QuikTrip as barred
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by the Dram Shop Act. 	Id. at 475. The appellate court affirmed dismissal as “a
commercial vendor selling liquor in original package for consumption off the
premises is not liable, pursuant to statute or common law, for liabilities inflicted
by intoxicated persons.” 	Id.
The Missouri Supreme Court later reached the same conclusion in
Snodgrass v. Martin & Bayley, Inc., 204 S.W.3d 638 (Mo. 2006). In
Snodgrass, a minor was killed in a motor vehicle accident after consuming
alcohol he purchased from Huck’s Convenience Store. Id. at 639. The
decedent’s mother filed suit against Huck’s, alleging the store negligently sold
liquor to her minor son and retained an employee with a history of selling liquor
to minors. Id. The trial court dismissed the claims against Huck’s as barred by
the Dram Shop Act. Id. at 639-40. The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed,
noting that the plain language of § 537.053 applied and disposed of the plaintiff’s
claims: “The Act specifically provides that a cause of action exists only against
a person licensed to sell intoxicating liquor by the drink for consumption on the
premises. No allowance is made for claims against a seller of packaged liquor.”
Id. at 640 (citation modified).
The Dram Shop Act provides the exclusive remedy for third persons
whose injuries are caused by the sale of alcoholic beverages to an obviously
intoxicated person. See Auto Owners Mut. Ins. Co. v. Sugar Creek Memorial
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Post No. 3976, 123 S.W.3d 183, 192 (Mo. Ct. App. 2003). Because the Dram
Shop Act does not permit a cause of action to lie against a convenience store
like QuikTrip for the sale of liquor in original packaging for consumption off
premises, plaintiffs’ negligence and loss of consortium claims arising from
QuikTrip’s sale of alcohol to Domingo-Teodoro fail under Missouri law.
Plaintiffs attempt to distinguish the foregoing authorities on the ground that
QuikTrip permitted Domingo-Teodoro to remain on its premises and consume the
alcohol prior to the accident, violating municipal law in the process. See § 600.110
of the Municipal Code for the City of St. Peters, Missouri, which provides that “no
person licensed . . . to sell intoxicating liquor at retail in the original package, not
to be consumed on the premises where sold, shall allow such original package to
be broken or allow any of such intoxicating liquor to be consumed in or upon the
premises described in such permit.” They also point to other alleged failures by
QuikTrip and its employees, including a failure to monitor its parking lot and call
the police to report Domingo-Teodoro’s drunken behavior.
Even if true, there is nothing to indicate that QuikTrip’s conduct gives rise to
liability under Missouri’s Dram Shop Act considering the legislature’s express
intention “to follow the common law rule that furnishing alcoholic beverages is not
the proximate cause of injuries inflicted by intoxicated persons” absent the
enumerated exception that does not apply here. See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 537.053.1
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(2025). Plaintiffs have pointed to no Missouri cases finding a convenience store
liable for injuries under these circumstances. QuikTrip was not licensed “to sell
intoxicating liquor by the drink for consumption on the premises” and, as such, is
not liable under Missouri’s Dram Shop Act for the injuries caused to plaintiffs by
Domingo-Teodoro. Plaintiffs’ claims for injuries arising from QuikTrip’s sale of
packaged, by-the-drink liquor to the intoxicated Domingo-Teodoro are exclusively
governed and foreclosed by Missouri’s Dram Shop Act. See Leimkuehler v.
Myers, 780 S.W.2d 653, 655 (Mo. Ct. App.1989) (negligence claim brought
against package liquor store for sale of alcohol to minor who injured plaintiff
barred by common law and the Dram Shop Act); Snodgrass, 204 S.W.3d at 640;
Trammell, 744 S.W.2d at 475.
Finally, plaintiffs seek leave2 to plead additional facts regarding QuikTrip’s
alleged failures to train or supervise its employees in the event of dismissal, but
these additional allegations would not state a claim against QuikTrip under
Missouri’s Dram Shop Act or otherwise change the outcome of this case.
Accordingly, leave to amend is denied as futile. See Popoalii v. Correctional
Medical Services, 512 F.3d 488, 497 (8th Cir. 2008) (leave to amend may be
denied as futile).
2 This request was made in plaintiffs’ opposition to the motion to dismiss (ECF 18 at 7), not by
separate motion accompanied by a proposed amended complaint.
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Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that defendant’s motion to dismiss [7] is
granted, and plaintiffs’ complaint is dismissed with prejudice.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that plaintiffs’ request for leave to amend
their complaint is denied as futile.
A separate Order of Dismissal is entered this same date.
CATHERINE D. PERRY
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Dated this 17th day of November, 2025.
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