The Nova Scotia Regulatory and Appeals Board has found Route 19 Brewing; a restaurant, lounge and brewery in Inverness, guilty under a section of the province’s Liquor Licensing Regulations in connection with the death of its Brewmaster. The section prohibits a licensee from permitting activity in or about the premises that is detrimental to the orderly control and operation of the licensed premises. A penalty has not been determined. The board will schedule a hearing later to receive submissions on what penalties, if any, should be imposed.
The Brewmaster, Dallas Lewis, died after falling from the roof of the building on July 13th, 2023. He died from multiple blunt force injuries consistent with a fall from a height. Lewis was intoxicated at the time of his death, but the medical examiner concluded it was not a direct contribution to his death. The board also concluded Lewis was not on duty at the time.
The Board adds that despite Lewis’s kind and helpful nature, he should not have been permitted to repair equipment, serve himself and others or enter the closed brewery and the upper floors of the building. The board says in its ruling the licensee must empower their managers and bartenders to enforce the rules, no matter who the patrons are.