A receipt from a restaurant indicates that a client ordered a number of alcohol-based beverages. The patron was involved in a fatal car crash just a few hours following the incident. The receipt may be of value to an attorney seeking to determine the potential liability of the Dramshop. It’s not a sure way to determine if the restaurant served someone who clearly drunk or in the event that employees didn’t adhere to procedures. It’s possible that the evidence is more convincing by looking at what happened in between drink orders.

Understanding the order of events requires an examination of the alcohol industry as a hospitality service, not just taking note of the number of drinks consumed after an incident.

The Importance of Bartender Observations in Alcohol-Service Cases

A receipt is a record of a purchase but not the state of a customer

Records from the point of sale can reveal when transactions took place, which beverages have been purchased, and what charges were put on a bill.

The receipt won’t reveal the manner in which the beverage was ordered. The receipt will not disclose who consumed each drink even if the drinks were served in a shared manner, and how the bartender was observing.

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 service flow without thinking that every purchase is the complete story.

What is the most employees could actually observe?

The main issue in alcohol-service disputes concerns whether staff have reasonable grounds to believe that the customer was intoxicated. The relevant indicators could include impaired coordination, unusual speech and balance problems, or a noticeable change in behavior.

But these indicators do require the context of. Any single action recorded in surveillance footage may have an explanation unrelated to alcohol. Investigators should also consider the quality of the footage angles, the position of the employees and the camera angles.

Preston Rideout’s background as a seasoned bartender and bar manager general manager at nightclubs, and director for bar operations can be seen in these evaluations. His operational experience helps to connect documentation with the obligations and practical limitations of employees working in busy environments.

Written Training Doesn’t Always Describe Real Practice

The majority of alcohol-service investigations focus on the preparation of employees. Does the establishment provide seller-server training to its employees? Did the establishment educate employees to detect signs of intoxication? Management explained the procedure for refusing to provide additional services?

The answer to these questions might be in the training certificates but they’re not sufficient.

A place may have detailed guidelines but not always follow them. Employees may have adhered to the accepted standards of service, even if the end outcome was tragic.

An operational review takes into account information on training materials as well as employee testimony. It also takes into account the oversight of management as well as any actions that are documented in the incident. The difference between a policy’s creation and its actual implementation could be significant for both the defense and plaintiff lawyers.

The Timeline often reveals the most important Questions

Consider a client who is served by multiple bartenders at the same time during an evening of high activity. It is possible that the initial employee observed a normal behavior. A bartender in a different location might serve a different drink following the shift change. A manager might intervened following the shift change.

These decisions may appear as a continuous service in the event that the timeline is not recreated. By examining all the relevant information, including transaction records and staffing schedules, as well as surveillance footage and incident reports together can help clarify who knew when and what. It is better to identify any missing footage or uncomplete records than to rely on speculation.

The legal liability issues and practice in the industry are distinct.

Hospitality professionals can explain the recognized operating practices of a venue and determine whether the conduct of the venue is in accordance with these rules.

They are not a substitute for the responsibility of the court to decide the legality of the liability. The laws regarding alcohol shops vary from state to state as do the rules in which they are sued.

Rideout Hospitality Consulting assists plaintiff and defendant lawyers across the country through reviewing cases, analyzing operations, writing opinions and depositions. Its services address alcohol-related issues as well as staff training, management methods, and other related hospitality operations.

The strongest analyses can explain what the evidence does not demonstrate.

The severity of an alcohol-related incident is not able to decide the truth of all previous information.

Attorneys should be aware of available records, the limits of the records and what employees were expected of them to function under the conditions.

A thorough analysis of hospitality can differentiate documented and accepted behavior patterns and clarify where the venue’s practices are aligned or deviated from the accepted norms. This allows courts to determine what occurred instead of having to rely on only what was found after the fact.