The receipt of a restaurant indicates that the customer ordered multiple alcoholic drinks. Hours later, that customer is involved in a fatal traffic accident. If an attorney is investigating possible liability for dram shops the receipt is crucial. It doesn’t necessarily establish if the restaurant served someone who clearly drunk, or if employees didn’t follow procedures. What transpired between drink orders might be more important.
In order to understand the sequence, you must take a look at the alcohol services as part of a real hospitality service. You cannot simply record drinks following an incident.
Receipts are proof of a sale not the status of a client
Records at the point of sale will reveal the date and time transactions took place, which drinks were purchased and the costs put on a bill.
The receipt will not show how the customer behaved when the beverage was ordered. It’s often difficult to identify who consumed the drinks, if they were shared or if the bartender noticed.
An expert witness who is qualified will help attorneys interpret the records, along with surveillance footage, employee testimony and any other evidence. The goal is to reconstruct service sequences and not assume that every purchase tells the entire story.
What is the most employees could actually observe?
The most important issue in alcohol-related disputes is whether staff could have a reason to believe the client was drunk. Relevant observations might include impaired coordination, unusual speech, difficulty maintaining balance, or noticeable changes in behavior.
But these indicators require context. The actions recorded on surveillance footage may not be a result of alcohol. Investigators should also look at the quality of the video angles, the position of the employees and the camera angles.
Preston Rideout brings experience as a bartender, bar manager and nightclub general manager and director of operations for bars to these assessments. His experience in operations helps link documented evidence to the responsibilities and constraints of employees who work in busy hospitality settings.
Written Training Doesn’t Always Describe Real Practice
The majority of alcohol-related investigation are focused on preparation of employees. Does the establishment provide server-seller training to its employees? Was the establishment able instruct its employees on the signs of intoxication? Has management explained to employees the process for refusing extra service?
These questions are central to Responsible alcohol service service, but reviewing training certificates alone may not answer them.
It is possible for an establishment to have specific policies but not consistently implement the policies. In the opposite situation employees may have followed service standards even if the incident was tragic.
A look at the operational aspects includes documentation for training, testimonies from employees supervision by management and actions documented during an incident. It is essential for the defense and plaintiffs to discern between the existence of policy and the way it is implemented.
Timeline can reveal important questions
Imagine a person being served drinks by different bartenders at a busy time. The bartender who was first on the scene may have observed a common behavior. A bartender in a different location might serve a different drink following the shift change. A manager could intervene later.
It’s possible to make these choices appear to be a single continuous act of service without having to reconstruct the time line. When looking through transaction records such as staffing plans, video surveillance and incident reports it’s helpful to determine the person who knew what, and at what time. It’s better to know if there are any missing documents or footage instead of speculating.
Lawful Liability and Industry Practice Are Different Questions
Hospitality experts can provide an explanation of accepted operating procedures and assess whether a venue’s conduct was consistent to them.
They are not a substitute for the responsibility of the court to decide the legal responsibility. The laws for liquor shops differ between states, including the circumstances under which alcohol providers may be subject to civil lawsuits.
Rideout Hospitality Consulting supports plaintiff and defense lawyers across the country by providing case reviews, operational analysis, depositions, written opinions, as well as trial testimony. Its services include alcohol-related decision making, staff training managerial procedures, and other hospitality related operations.
The most thorough analyses can help explain what the evidence does not show
Alcohol-related incidents can have serious effects, but their seriousness is not determined by all the evidence.
Lawyers must be able to determine the legal documents available and their limits as well as the way employees are expected to behave in situation.
A thorough hospitality analysis will separate documented actions from assumed behaviours and explain how the practices of the establishment are aligned or deviated from the accepted norms. That distinction helps courts evaluate what actually happened instead of relying on what was revealed later on.