A receipt from a restaurant shows a customer who has ordered several drinks of alcohol. The patron was involved in a serious auto accident within a couple of hours of the incident. A receipt is important for an attorney who is investigating possible legal liability of dram shops. It doesn’t necessarily establish whether the establishment served a clearly drunk person or if employees did not comply with the appropriate procedure. More revealing evidence might depend on what transpired between those drinks ordered.
Understanding that sequence requires examining the alcohol industry as a hospitality service, not just recording the amount of alcohol consumed following an incident.
Receipts record a sale, Not a Customer’s Condition
The records at the point of sale can reveal the date and time of transactions, what drinks were purchased, and what charges were assigned to the tab.
A receipt is not able to reveal the behavior of a person when served drinks. The receipt might not show the drinkers who consumed it even if the drinks were shared, as well as how the bartender was observing.
An expert witness with experience will assist attorneys in interpreting the documents, along with surveillance footage, testimony from employees, and any other evidence that is available. It is essential to reconstruct the entire sequence of services without assuming every purchase will tell the entire story.
What do employees see in the real world?
In many disputes regarding alcohol service, the most important question is whether the staff had a reason to suspect that the customer was drinking. Relevant observations could include diminished coordination, atypical speaking and a difficulty in maintaining equilibrium or any noticeable changes in behavior.
These indicators require contextualization. A single incident captured on surveillance footage may have a reason that isn’t related to alcohol consumption. Investigators should also look at how the recording is done, employee positions and camera angles.
Preston Rideout brings experience as a bartender, bar manager, nightclub general manager, and director of bar operations to these evaluations. His operational background helps him link documented evidence with the obligations of employees in busy hospitality spaces.
Written Training Doesn’t Always Describe Real Practice
The majority of investigations into alcohol-related service focus on the preparation of employees. Did the establishment offer seller-server training? Did employees be taught to recognize the signs of intoxication? Management has explained to employees the process for refusing extra service?
These are crucial to Responsible alcohol service, but studying training certificates alone will not answer them.
A business could have in-depth guidelines but not always follow them. In the other case an employee might have followed the guidelines even if the incident was tragic.
An operational review includes training materials and employee testimony. The review also examines supervision by management and the actions documented in the incident. Both plaintiffs and defense attorneys are able to benefit from a distinction between the presence of an actual policy and its execution.
The Timeline often provides the key Questions
Imagine a client being served drinks by a variety of bartenders at a busy time. The first bartender may be observing normal behaviour. Following a shift switch a second bartender may have served a different beverage. Later, a manager may have intervened.
These decisions may appear as a continuous service even if the timeline has not been reconstitued. If you are reviewing transaction logs, staffing plans, surveillance footage and incident reports, it can be helpful to determine who was aware of what, and when. It’s much better to discover any missing footage or uncomplete records rather than rely on speculative speculation.
The questions of legal liability and industry practice are different.
Hospitality professionals can help explain and assess whether a place follows the established operating guidelines.
The court remains in task of determining whether a person is legally responsible. There are laws that differ for each state on the legal liability of retailers selling alcohol.
Rideout Hospitality Consulting supports plaintiff and defense lawyers throughout the world through case review and operational analysis, as well as 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 strongest analysis explains what the evidence cannot show
Instances involving alcohol can have grave consequences, but the severity cannot be determined by all the facts.
The attorney must understand the available records as well as their limitations and the expectations of employees under the conditions.
An analysis of hospitality is a comprehensive method to distinguish assumptions from actual actions and establish whether the host’s practices were in accordance to accepted norms or not. The courts then have the ability to evaluate the actual events rather than just relying on the lessons they have learned.