Boca Raton-based Gladstone Law Group was not negligent and breached no duty to a drunken employee killed by a train after a work function, a state appellate court has ruled.

The Gladstone firm was sold and rebranded as Tromberg Law Group. It faced suit over an employee's death, because relatives claimed the firm served alcohol during work hours and “encouraged employees to drink … to entice them to work additional hours and produce more work product.”

But the Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed dismissal of the complaint by Vincent Charles Salerno on behalf of his mother Susan M. Salerno, alleging the employers were negligent in her death.

The June 6 decision, written by Fourth DCA Judge Martha C. Warner with concurrences by Judges Melanie G. May and Dorian K. Damoorgian, considers the extent to which an employer is responsible for the well-being of its staff.

“Although there is a special relationship between an employer and an employee, and a duty to protect the employee from imminent harm within the scope of employment, there is no similar duty when the employee is coming home from work,” the ruling states.

Susan Salerno was employed by both the Gladstone Law Group and Del Mar Financial Service. On June 19, 2013, Susan Salerno, a known alcoholic, was permitted to consume alcohol at work, according to the complaint. After downing multiple drinks and becoming intoxicated, she became agitated and was escorted from the building and instructed to go home. Unable to reenter the building, she began a 10-mile walk home. During the walk, she wandered onto train tracks before being hit and killed by an oncoming train.

“The deceased was not in the scope of her employment when she was walking home along the railroad tracks,” the appellate panel found.

The plaintiff's court pleadings alleged the employers encouraged staff to frequent an on-premise bar on workdays. But under the law, Salerno's employers were acting as “social hosts” and didn't have the same responsibilities as “vendors,” which might have liability for serving too much alcohol.

“I was definitely surprised by the opinion that came out,” said attorney Richard R. Widell, who represented Vincent Charles Salerno. According to Widell, Salerno's employers were well aware of her issues with alcohol, even accommodating her schedule so she could attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

“In my opinion, there was a heightened duty to make sure she wasn't drinking on the job,” he said.

What Widell found most uncomfortable: Salerno was escorted from the building and left to find her own way home.

“Especially in this day and age of Uber, it's really not putting that much of a burden on an employer to pick up the phone,” he said

But the decision came as no surprise to the defense, which believed the court was correct in its assertion.

“The Gladstone Law Group and its personnel all remain very sympathetic to the family's loss,” said John Lurvey, trial counsel for the defense. “However, we did not feel that factually or legally that responsibility rested with the defendant.”

Lurvey pointed out that the trial court gave Salerno's family and its counsel three opportunities to state a legal cause of action but ultimately decided there was no responsibility on the part of the employer, no matter how tragic the loss.

“We hope this will be the end of the case,” said Hinda Klein of Conroy Simberg in Hollywood, who represents both Del Mar Financial Services and Gladstone Law Group.

Though Salerno could potentially seek review by the Florida Supreme Court, the case will most likely come to a close unless the Fourth DCA grants a rehearing.

Widell is still representing Salerno but will soon be separating from the case as he moves his practice to Virginia for personal reasons.

Read the ruling: