McCarty was an employee of Apartment Plumbers, Inc. , a corporation owned and managed by Alan McGowan and Robert Schlossberg. Employees stored beer in the refrigerator at the office; McCarty, who preferred bourbon, kept a half pint of Jack Daniels on a shelf. Schlossberg, one of the owner-managers, testified that he, McCarty, and a few other employees remained on the premises talking, drinking, and playing poker. Later in the evening McCarty drank from the bottle, chased it with vodka (which he thought was water) and became ill. As we have noted, while driving home, McCarty lost his life when he collided with a railroad signal pole.

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