Soon after Granny’s Rocker Nite Club opened in the mid-1980s, it began having a weekly “fanny” contest, which involved male and female volunteer contestants competing for cash prizes by dancing. The audience judged the contest. While attending the fanny contest on April 4, 1990, plaintiff Jeffrey Loomis got into a fight with another patron. Loomis’s right ear was bitten and torn.
Loomis’s claim against Granny’s Rocker had two counts, one based on the Illinois Dramshop Act and one based on negligence. The jury found for the defendant on the dramshop count, but it found that Granny’s Rocker was negligent in failing to have adequate security to stop a physical altercation on the nights of the fanny contests when it knew or should have known that such contests would result in a large and rowdy group of patrons. Granny’s Rocker appealed. Decide the appeal. Explain.