A receipt from a restaurant indicates that the patron ordered several alcoholic drinks. The next day, that person is involved in a fatal traffic collision. If an attorney is investigating possible liability for dram shops the receipt is crucial. It’s not a sure way to determine if the restaurant served someone who was clearly drunk or in the event that employees didn’t adhere to procedures. The more revealing evidence may relate to what transpired between the drinks ordered.
Understanding this sequence requires studying the alcohol industry as a hospitality business, not just recording the amount of alcohol consumed following an incident.
A receipt is an evidence of a transaction, not a requirement of the buyer
Records at the point of sale can reveal when transactions took place, which drinks were bought, and what charges were put on a bill.
A receipt, however, generally doesn’t show how a patron behaved when they were served a drink. It is not always possible to know who drank the drinks, if they were shared or 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 aim is to reconstruct the sequence of service without believing that each purchase is all the story.
What are the things employees can observe in the real world?
One of the most crucial issues in alcohol-related disputes is whether staff had recognizable reasons to believe a patron was intoxicated. Some of the relevant indicators could be impaired coordination, unusual speaking or speech patterns, difficulties maintaining equilibrium or observable behavioral changes.
These indicators need contextualization. The actions captured on surveillance video may not be a direct result of drinking. Investigators also need to consider how the recording is done angles, the position of the employees and the camera angles.
Preston Rideout has experience as an eveningclub manager Bar manager, director of bar operations and bartender. His operational background helps connect documentation with the obligations and limitations of staff who work in busy hospitality settings.
Written Training Doesn’t Always Describe Real Practice
In most alcohol-service investigation the questions revolve around the employee’s training. Was there any formal training for the servers-sellers? Did employees be taught to recognize potential signs of alcohol intoxication? Has management explained to employees the procedure for refusing extra service?
These are the questions that form the basis of responsible alcohol services, however the review of training certificates alone might not be able to answer these questions.
A facility may maintain specific policies but never implement them consistently. However, employees could have followed established service standards even if the end result was devastating.
An operational review will look at information on training, employee testimony monitoring by management, any actions that were documented in the incident. Plaintiffs as well as defense attorneys can benefit from a distinction between the presence of an policy and its actual implementation.
Timeline often answers crucial information
Imagine a customer who is served drinks by various bartenders in a busy evening. It is likely that the bartender who served the first patron was observing a typical behavior. A second bartender might serve another drink following an alteration in shift. A manager could have intervened afterward.
In the absence of a timeline to reconstruct the decisions could seem to be one continuous act of service. In reviewing transaction records or staffing plans, surveillance footage, and incident reports it is helpful to identify who was aware of what, and at what time. It is better to determine if there are any missing files or videos, rather than speculating.
The legal liability issues and industrial practice are two different issues.
Hospitality professionals can help explain and assess whether a place adheres to the accepted operating procedures.
These laws do not replace the ability of a judge to determine the legal liability. The laws for liquor shops differ between states, and also the conditions where alcohol suppliers could be liable for civil actions.
Rideout Hospitality Consulting assists plaintiff and defendant attorneys across the country through review of the case, analysis of operations, written opinions, and depositions. The focus of its work is on alcohol-related choices and training for staff.
The strongest analysis accounts for What the Evidence Cannot Show
Instances involving alcohol can have grave consequences, however their severity cannot be determined based on all the facts.
Lawyers need to be able recognize the documents available and their limitations and also how employees are expected to act in specific circumstances.
An analysis of hospitality is a method of determining whether a venue’s practices separate assumptions from documented actions and establish whether the host’s practices are in line with the established standards or not. That distinction helps courts evaluate the events that actually occurred instead of relying on what became known later on.