A receipt in the restaurant shows a patron who has ordered several drinks of alcohol. A few hours later, the same customer is involved in a serious accident. A receipt is important for an attorney looking into potential Dram shop liability. It doesn’t necessarily establish if the restaurant served a customer who was clearly drunk or if employees didn’t follow procedures. The most relevant evidence could be what transpired between those drinks ordered.
Understanding the sequence of events requires looking at the alcohol service as a hospitality business, 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 can show the date and time of transactions, what beverages were purchased, as well as what charges were assigned to a tab.
But, receipts generally doesn’t show how a patron behaved when they were served a drink. The receipt may not reveal the individual who drank each drink even if the drinks were shared, as well as how the bartender was observing.
An expert witness can assist attorneys in understanding these documents in conjunction with the surveillance footage and statements of employees. It is essential to reconstruct the order of service, without believing that each purchase will tell the entire story.
What can employees observe in the real world?
In many disputes over alcohol services, the main concern is whether or not the staff could have any reason to suspect that the customer was drinking. Relevant observations might include impaired coordination, speech that is unusual difficulties, balance issues or observable changes in behavior.
But these indicators do require the context of. A single incident captured in surveillance footage may be explained in a way that is not related to drinking alcohol. Investigators should also consider the quality of the video angles, the position of the employees and the camera angles.
Preston Rideout brings experience as a bartender, bar manager, nightclub general manager, and director of bar operations to these evaluations. His background in operation helps connect recorded evidence with the responsibilities and the limitations that employees face working in busy hospitality environments.
Written Training Doesn’t Always Describe Real Practice
In the majority of investigations involving alcohol, questions are asked about the preparation of the employee. Did the establishment provide seller-server training? Did the establishment train employees to detect signs of intoxication? Did management explain to employees the process for refusing extra service?
These are the questions that form the basis of responsible alcohol service but the review of training certificates alone might not provide the answers.
It is possible for an establishment to have detailed policies, however, they may not always follow them. Employees may have adhered to recognized service practices regardless of whether the final result was tragic.
An operational review takes into account training materials and testimony from employees. The review also examines the management’s oversight and any actions that are documented in the incident. The distinction between a policy’s existence and the actual implementation of it can be vital for both plaintiff and defense counsel.
Timeline can help answer important answers to your questions
Consider a client who is served by multiple bartenders at the same time during a busy night. It is likely that the bartender who served the first patron noticed a regular behaviour. After a shift change, another bartender could have served a different drink. Managers could have intervened.
It’s possible to make these choices appear to be one continuous action without retracing the time line. Examining all the information, including transaction records and staffing plans as well as surveillance footage and incident report together can help clarify who knew when and what. It’s better to know the missing records or footage, instead of guessing.
The issues of liability under the law and industrial practice are two different issues.
Hospitality experts can provide an explanation of accepted operating practices and evaluate whether the actions of a hotel were in accordance with them.
These laws do not replace a court’s ability to determine the legal obligation. Dram shop laws differ among states, including the circumstances that alcohol retailers could be liable for civil actions.
Rideout Hospitality Consulting supports plaintiff and defense attorneys across the nation by conducting case review and operational analysis, as well as depositions, written opinion as well as trial testimony. The company’s work focuses on alcohol-related decisions as well as staff training, management methods, and other hospitality-related operations.
The most robust analysis explains what the evidence doesn’t show
Instances involving alcohol can have grave consequences, but their severity cannot be determined based on all the facts.
Attorneys should be aware of available records, the limitations of these records, as well as how employees were expected to operate under the circumstances.
A hospitality analysis can be a thorough method to identify assumptions from documented actions and to determine if the venue’s practices were in accordance with the established standards or not. The courts can then evaluate the events in question rather than relying on the lessons they have learned.