A receipt from a restaurant indicates that a patron ordered several alcohol-based drinks. The next day, that person was involved in a major traffic accident. A receipt is important for an attorney who is investigating possible legal liability of dram shops. However, it’s not a sure way to determine whether the restaurant served an obviously intoxicated person or whether employees failed to comply with the appropriate procedure. What transpired between drink orders could be more clear.
In order to understand the pattern, you need to consider the alcohol service as part of a hospitality service. You can’t simply record drinks following an incident.
A receipt is a document of the sale but is it is not a condition for the purchaser.
Point-of-sale data can be used to determine when transactions occurred, which beverages were bought, and what charges were assigned to the tab.
A receipt is not able to reveal the behavior of a person when served a drink. The receipt will not disclose the drinkers who consumed it in the event that drinks were shared, and the manner in which the bartender viewed it.
A qualified Expert Witness will assist attorneys in interpreting the documents together with video surveillance, witness testimony of employees, and any other evidence that is available. The goal is to retrace the service sequence without assuming that each purchase will tell the entire story.
What could employees actually observe?
In a lot of disputes regarding alcohol-related services, the primary concern is whether or not the staff could have any reason to suspect that a client was drunk. Observations that are relevant include speech impairment or impaired coordination troubles with balance or shifts in behavior.
But these indicators require the context. A single action captured on surveillance footage might be explained in a way that is not related to drinking alcohol. Investigators must also look at camera angles, quality of recording employees’ positions, and if the behavior might be visible to the staff.
Preston Rideout brings experience as a bartender, bar manager, nightclub general manager, and director of bar operations to these evaluations. His operational background lets him connect the recorded evidence with the duties of workers in busy hospitality establishments.
Written Training Doesn’t Always Describe Real Practice
In most alcohol-service investigation inquiries, questions are asked regarding the employee’s preparation. Was there any training for the seller-servers? Did the establishment instruct its employees on how to recognize intoxication? Management was clear on the reasons for refusing to offer any additional services?
While these are questions that are vital to the Responsible Alcohol Service (RACS), reviewing only the training certificates may not be enough to address them.
It can be possible for a facility to have detailed policies, but not consistently implement them. On the other hand, employees may have followed recognized service practices even if the end result was devastating.
A review of operations examines information on training materials as well as employee testimony. Also, it considers supervision by management and the specific actions described in the incident. The distinction between a policy’s existence and its actual implementation can be vital for both defense and plaintiff counsel.
The Timeline of times reveals the crucial questions
Imagine a person being served drinks by a variety of bartenders during a busy night. The bartender who was first on the scene may have noticed normal behaviour. After a change of shift, a second employee may serve a second drink. In the future, a manager might have intervened.
It’s possible to make these decisions appear to be a single continuous service, without retracing the timeline. Reviewing transaction records, staffing schedules, surveillance footage, and incident reports together can assist in determining who knew what and when. Incomplete or missing footage must be identified, rather than rewritten with speculation.
Lawful Liability and Industry Practice are Different Issues
Professionals from the hospitality industry can explain and assess whether a place is operating in accordance with recognized procedures.
They don’t replace the responsibility of the court to decide the legal responsibility. There are distinct laws in each state concerning the legal responsibility of alcohol retailers.
Rideout Hospitality Consulting supports plaintiff and defense attorneys across the nation through case reviews operational analysis, written opinions, depositions, as well as trial testimony. Its work focuses on alcohol-service choices and training for staff.
The strongest analysis accounts for what the Evidence Do Not Support
The gravity of an alcohol-related event cannot determine all previous facts.
Attorneys must understand the documents available, the limits of the records and the manner in which employees were expected perform under the circumstances.
An analysis of hospitality is a thorough way to identify assumptions from documented actions and establish whether the host’s practices were in line with recognized standards or not. That distinction helps courts evaluate the events that actually occurred instead of relying only on what was discovered following the fact.