A receipt from a dining establishment shows that the customer ordered a number of alcohol-based drinks. The patron was involved in a serious car accident within a couple of hours of the incident. The receipt is crucial to attorneys investigating potential legal liability of dram shops. The receipt is not required to show that the restaurant served a clearly intoxicated customer or that employees did not adhere to the proper procedure. The more revealing evidence may relate to what transpired between the drinks ordered.
Understanding the sequence of events requires looking at the alcohol industry as a hospitality process, not just recording the amount of alcohol consumed following an incident.
A receipt records a sale not the status of the customer
Records at the point-of-sale can show the dates when transactions took place, which beverages were purchased, as well as the method of assigning charges to the tab.
The receipt will not show the customer’s behavior when the beverage was ordered. It might not reveal who drank each beverage and whether or not drinks were shared or not, or even what the bartender was watching.
An experienced Expert Witness can help attorneys interpret these records alongside surveillance footage, employee statements, and other available evidence. The goal is to reconstruct the entire service process without believing that every purchase tells the whole story.
What are the things employees can actually observe?
In many disputes regarding alcohol-related services, the primary concern is whether or not the staff was able to establish that the customer was drinking. Some of the relevant indicators could be diminished coordination, atypical speaking, difficulty maintaining equilibrium, or observable behavioral changes.
But these indicators still need some context. A single act recorded on surveillance footage could provide an explanation that is not connected to drinking alcohol. Investigators must also think about camera angles, recording quality as well as the positions of employees, and if the behavior might be seen by the employees.
Preston Rideout brings experience as bartender, manager of the bar, nightclub general manager, and director of bar operations to these reviews. His background in operations allows him to connect recorded evidence with the obligations of employees in busy hospitality settings.
Written Training Doesn’t Always Describe Real Practice
In the majority of investigations involving alcohol the questions revolve around the employee’s training. Did the establishment provide seller-server instruction? Did the establishment educate employees to identify signs of intoxication? Did management explain to employees the procedure for refusing additional service?
While these are questions that are vital for the Responsible Alcohol Service, looking over only the training certificates may not suffice to answer these questions.
A facility may maintain specific policies, but fail to consistently implement them. In the reverse scenario the employee could have complied with the rules of service even if it was tragic.
An operational review includes training materials and employee testimony. It also takes into account management oversight as well as the specific actions described in the incident. It is essential for lawyers representing defense and plaintiffs to recognize the difference between the existence and effectiveness of the policy and its application.
Timeline often provides answers to important questions
Think about a client being served by several bartenders at the same time in a busy night. It is possible that the first employee observed normal manner of conduct. Following a shift switch a second bartender may have served a different beverage. A manager could have intervened in the future.
In the absence of a timeline to reconstruct these decisions may seem to be one continuous action of service. If you are reviewing transaction logs or staffing plans, incidents and surveillance footage It can be useful to identify the person who knew what and the time. Records that are missing or not complete should be identified instead of being replaced by speculation.
Industry Practice and Legal Liability are Different Concerns
Hospitality professionals are able to explain the recognized operating practices of a venue and determine whether its actions are in accordance with these standards.
The laws are not meant to replace a court’s ability to determine the legal responsibilities. The laws for alcohol-related shops vary from state to state, as do the conditions under which they may be sued.
Rideout Hospitality Consulting assists plaintiff and defendant lawyers across the nation with case review, analysis of operations, writing opinions, and depositions. Its work addresses alcohol-service decisions as well as staff training, management practices, and other related hospitality operations.
The Most Proven Analysis explains what the Evidence Doesn’t Show
Alcohol-related incidents can have serious consequences, but their severity is not determined by all the facts.
The attorney must know the information available to him in the case, their limitations, and the expectations of employees under the conditions.
A thorough hospitality analysis will discern between documented and preconceived behaviours and show where the venue’s practices are in line with or differ from the accepted norms. This permits courts to assess what happened instead of using only the information discovered after the fact.