A receipt from a restaurant shows that the customer ordered a number of alcoholic drinks. A few hours later, the customer is in the middle of a traffic accident. The receipt could be useful to an attorney who is looking into the possibility of liability for a Dramshop. However, it’s not a sure way to determine whether the restaurant served an intoxicated customer or whether employees failed to follow appropriate procedures. What transpired between the drink orders might be more relevant.
Understanding the order of events requires an examination of the alcohol industry as a hospitality process, not just counting beverages after an incident.
Receipts record a sale not the status of the customer
The record at the point of sale is used to identify the date the transaction took place, what beverages were purchased and what charges are assigned to the tab.
A receipt cannot reveal the manner in which a customer behaved when they were served a drink. It’s often difficult to identify who consumed the drink, even if they were shared, or what the bartender was watching.
Expert witnesses can assist attorneys with the interpretation of these documents with regard to the surveillance footage and statements of employees. The objective is to reconstruct the sequence of service and not assume that every purchase tells the entire story.
What can employees actually see?
In many disputes over alcohol-related services, the primary issue is whether the staff could have any reason to suspect that a client was drunk. The relevant observations might include impairment in coordination, abnormal speech problems, inability to maintain equilibrium or any noticeable changes in behavior.
These indicators need context. Even a single act captured in surveillance footage could have a reason that isn’t related to alcohol. Investigators should also look at the camera’s angle, quality of the recording location of employees, and if a particular behavior was evident to the staff.
Preston Rideout brings experience as a bartender, bar manager, nightclub general manager, and director of bar operations to these evaluations. His work experience lets him connect the recorded evidence with the obligations of staff members in hectic hospitality establishments.
Written Training Doesn’t Always Describe Real Practice
The majority of alcohol-related investigations concentrate on preparation for employees. Did the establishment offer server-seller training? Did the establishment instruct employees to detect signs of intoxication? Have managers explained to employees the procedure for refusing extra service?
The answers to these questions might be in the certificates of training, but they are not sufficient.
The establishment may have policies in place but fail to follow them consistently. Employees could have abided by accepted service standards even if the final outcome was tragic.
A review of operations takes into account information on training materials as well as employee testimony. It also considers the management’s oversight and the actions documented in the incident. The difference between a policy’s creation and the actual implementation of it can be vital for both defense and plaintiff counsel.
Timeline often reveals important information
Imagine a person being served drinks by different bartenders during a busy night. The first employee may have noticed normal behaviour. A second bartender may serve another drink following an alteration in shift. Then, a manager could have intervened.
These decisions can appear as an ongoing process when the timeline isn’t recreated. When looking through transaction records, staffing plans, incidents and surveillance footage it’s helpful to know the person who knew what, and when. It’s much better to discover the absence of footage or insufficient documents than relying on speculation.
Lawful Liability and Industry Practice Are Different Questions
Hospitality professionals can explain the recognized operating practices of a restaurant and establish whether its behavior is in line with these practices.
These laws do not replace the ability of a judge to determine the legal liability. The laws regarding alcohol shops vary from state to state as do the conditions under which they may be legally sued.
Rideout Hospitality Consulting assists plaintiff and defendant attorneys across the United States with reviewing cases, analyzing operations, written opinions, and depositions. Its work addresses alcohol-service decisions and staff training, as well as practices for management, as well as other relevant hospitality operations.
The most thorough analyses can help explain what the evidence does not show
Alcohol-related incidents can have serious consequences, but the severity can’t be assessed by all the facts.
Attorneys should be aware of available records, the limits of the records and what employees were expected of them to function under the conditions.
A thorough hospitality analysis can distinguish established actions from beliefs and clarifies where the establishment’s practices matched up with or diverged from recognized standards. This permits courts to assess what happened instead of having to rely on only what was discovered after the fact.