A man is suing Max’s Tavern for $3.7 million after cutting his hand on a shattered pint glass. He was helping to pull the glass and a metal shaker apart, per the bartender’s request for his help.
According to the complaint obtained by the Emerald, Winston Martin is suing Max’s, also called New Max’s Tavern, following an incident which left him with “severe and permanent injury to his left hand.”
The complaint says that on Jan. 18, 2016, Martin went to Max’s Tavern and was served four pints of beer in one hour as well as several free cocktails, which were free because the bartender was learning to make them. A female patron sitting at the bar ordered a margarita which the bartender mixed using a metal shaker capped with a pint glass. Unable to separate the shaker himself, the bartender asked Martin to help him. Martin placed his left hand on the pint glass and his right hand on the metal shaker which caused the pint glass to shatter in his left hand.
Martin, who hoped to attend medical school and is described in the claim as “an accomplished guitar player,” lost sensation in his finger during the incident. Even after the stitches were removed, the lack of sensation remained except for intermittent pain.
According to the complaint, Martin is suing Max’s Tavern for diminished earnings of over $3.2 million in addition to smaller claims of medical compensation and damages for “pain, suffering and permanent physical impairment.”
Court documents state that Martin is a University of Oregon student but an article in the Register-Guard stated that he is not enrolled in the school.
More updates to this story will come as the case proceeds through court.