A restaurant receipt shows that a customer ordered several alcoholic beverages. A few hours later the same person is involved with a serious accident. The receipt is essential for an attorney who is investigating possible Dram shop liability. It’s not necessarily a proof of whether the restaurant served a customer who clearly drunk or in the event that employees didn’t adhere to procedures. What transpired between drink orders could be more clear.
Understanding that sequence requires examining alcohol service as an actual hospitality process, not just taking note of the number of drinks consumed after an incident.
Receipts record a sale not a customer’s condition
Records at the point of sale may reveal when transactions occurred, which beverages were purchased and the charges put on a bill.
A receipt, however, generally does not reveal how a person was acting when they were served a drink. The receipt will not disclose the person who consumed each drink, if drinks were shared, or what the bartender observed.
An experienced Expert Witness can help attorneys interpret these records alongside surveillance footage, employee statements, and other available evidence. It is important to reconstruct the sequence of service without presuming that every purchase tells the complete story.
What could employees actually observe?
In many disputes over alcohol services, the main concern is whether or not the staff had any reason to suspect that the customer was drinking. Some of the relevant indicators could be impaired coordination, strange speaking and a difficulty in maintaining equilibrium or observable behavioral changes.
These indicators need to be contextualized. A single incident captured on surveillance footage may have a reason that isn’t related to alcohol consumption. Investigators should also be aware of the camera’s angle, the recording quality the position of the employee, as well as the extent to which a particular behaviour was apparent to employees.
Preston Rideout brings experience as Bar manager, bartender as well as nightclub general manager and director of operations for bars to these reviews. His operational background permits him to link recorded evidence to the roles of employees in busy hospitality environments.
Written Training Doesn’t Always Describe Real Practice
In most alcohol-service investigation there are questions posed about the employee’s preparation. Does the establishment offer seller-server training to its employees? Did employees be taught to recognize possible intoxication? Did management outline ways to deny additional service?
Although these questions are crucial for the Responsible Alcohol Service, reviewing just training certificates might not suffice to answer these questions.
The establishment may have policies implemented, but fail to enforce them consistently. In the reverse scenario, an employee may be following the standards of service, even though it was a tragedy.
A look at the operational aspects includes training materials, employee testimonies as well as management oversight and the actions that were documented in the event. It is vital for plaintiffs’ and defense counsel to recognize the difference between the existence of a policy and the way it is implemented.
Timeline can help answer important questions
Think about a client being served by multiple bartenders at the same time in a busy night. The first bartender may be observing normal behaviour. A second bartender may serve a different drink following an alteration in shift. Later, a manager may have intervened.
The decision-making process could be seen as an ongoing process even if the timeline has not been rebuilt. By examining all the relevant information including transaction records, staffing plans as well as surveillance footage and an incident report together, can clarify who was in charge and when. The absence of footage or the inadequacy of records must be identified, rather than replaced with speculation.
The issues surrounding legal liability and the practice of industry are different.
Hospitality experts are able to discuss the established operating guidelines of a facility and decide whether its behavior is in accordance with these standards.
The court remains in duty of determining liability for legal reasons. There are laws that differ in every state that govern the legal liability of retailers selling alcohol.
Rideout Hospitality Consulting supports plaintiff and defense lawyers across the country by conducting case review operational analysis, written opinions, depositions as well as trial testimony. Its services include alcohol-related decisions, staff training management practices, as well as other related hospitality operations.
The most robust analysis explains what the Evidence Cannot Show
Instances involving alcohol can have grave effects, but their seriousness cannot be determined based on all the evidence.
Lawyers must recognize the documents available and their limits in addition to how employees were expected to act in the particular circumstances.
An analysis of hospitality is a method of determining whether a venue’s practices identify assumptions from documented actions and determine if the location’s procedures were in line with the established standards or not. The courts are then able to assess the actual circumstances rather than just relying on what they learnt later.