A receipt at the restaurant shows a patron drinking a variety of alcohol drinks. This customer was involved in a fatal car crash a few hours after the incident. In the case of an attorney looking into potential dram shop liability the receipt will be relevant. It does not have to demonstrate that the establishment provided a clearly drunk patron or that the employees failed to follow proper procedures. What transpired between drink orders might be more relevant.
To understand this sequence, it is essential to consider the alcohol service as a hospitality procedure and not simply count beverages following an event.
Receipts record a sale and does not reflect the condition of the buyer.
The record at the point of sale is used to identify the date the transaction occurred, what beverages were purchased and what charges are allocated to the tab.
However, a receipt generally doesn’t show how a patron was acting at the time they were served a drink. It’s not always possible to know who drank the drink, even if they were shared or what the bartender observed.
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 assuming that every purchase is the complete story.
What can employees observe?
In a lot of disputes regarding alcohol service, the most important concern is whether or not the staff was able to establish that a person was drunk. Observations that are relevant include impaired coordination or speech, difficulties maintaining balance or modifications in behavior.
These indicators need to be contextualized. A single incident in surveillance footage might be a cause that is not related to alcohol. Investigators should also look at the quality of the recording position of the employee and camera angles.
Preston Rideout has experience as manager of a nightclub and bar manager director of operations for bars, and bartender. His experience in operations helps link documents with the duties and limitations of staff who work in busy hospitality settings.
Written Training Doesn’t Always Describe Real Practice
The majority of alcohol-service investigations are focused on preparation of employees. Did there exist any training programs for server-servers who sold the drinks? Did the establishment educate employees to detect signs of intoxication? Did management explain ways to deny additional service?
While these questions are important to the Responsible Alcohol Service, reviewing the only certificates of training may not suffice to answer them.
A business could have in-depth policies, but fail to consistently implement them. Employees could have abided by established service guidelines even if the end result was tragic.
A review of operations considers the training materials and testimony from employees. Also, it considers the oversight of management as well as the specific actions described during the incident. Defense attorneys and plaintiffs can benefit from a distinction between the existence of an actual policy and its execution.
Timeline can help answer important answers to your questions
Imagine a person being served drinks by different bartenders in a busy evening. The first bartender might have seen a typical behavior. After a change of shift an employee from another shift could serve a second drink. Managers could intervened following the shift change.
The decisions could appear to be a continuous service in the event that the timeline is not reconstructed. Retrospectively reviewing transaction records, staffing schedules surveillance footage, incident reports can assist in determining who knew what and when. Incomplete or missing footage are also to be noted instead of being re-used with speculation.
Lawful Liability and Practices in Industry are two different questions
Professionals in hospitality can provide explanations and determine if a location is following recognized operating procedures.
These laws don’t replace a court’s ability to determine the legal obligation. There are laws that differ in each state regarding the legal responsibility of retailers selling alcohol.
Rideout Hospitality Consulting provides support to defense attorneys and plaintiffs in the United States through case reviews, operational analyses writing opinions trials, depositions and other types of evidence. Its services focus on alcohol-related choices and training for staff.
The strongest analyses can explain what the evidence doesn’t demonstrate.
Instances involving alcohol can have grave consequences, but their severity cannot be determined by all the evidence.
Lawyers must discern the types of documents available and their limits in addition to how employees were required to act under the particular circumstances.
An exhaustive analysis of hospitality practices will separate documented actions from accepted behavior patterns and clarify how the practices of the establishment differ from the norms. This helps courts determine the actual events rather than relying solely on what was discovered in the aftermath.