A receipt from a restaurant shows that the customer ordered a number of alcoholic drinks. The next day the same customer has been involved in a serious accident. For an attorney investigating potential liability of a dram shop the receipt will be relevant. It doesn’t necessarily establish if the restaurant served a person who clearly drunk, or the employees did not follow rules. What happened between the drink orders may be more telling.

To fully comprehend this sequence it is essential to consider the alcohol service as a hospitality process and not simply count beverages at the end of an event.

Receipts are a proof of a sale and not a stipulation of the buyer

Records at the point of sale can show when transactions took place, which drinks were bought and the costs added to the bill.

A receipt cannot reveal what the client’s behavior was when they were served a drink. It’s often difficult to establish who drank the drinks, if they were shared or if the bartender saw.

An expert witness with experience will assist lawyers in understanding the records as well as surveillance footage, employee testimony and any other evidence that is available. It is crucial to decipher the entire sequence of services without assuming every purchase will tell the complete story.

What is the perception of employees in reality?

A central question in many alcohol-related disputes is whether staff had recognizable reasons to believe that a customer was drunk. Relevant observations could include impairment in coordination, abnormal speech problems, inability to maintain equilibrium or any noticeable changes in behavior.

These indicators require context. The actions recorded in video surveillance may not be related to alcohol. Investigators should consider the camera’s angle, quality of the recording employees’ position and whether a specific behavior was apparent to employees.

Preston Rideout has experience as manager of a nightclub as well as bar manager director of bar operations, and bartender. His operational experience helps to connect recorded evidence with the responsibilities and the limitations that employees face working in fast-paced hospitality environments.

Written Training Doesn’t Always Describe Real Practice

Most alcohol-service investigations involve questions about employee preparation. Does the establishment provide server-seller training to its employees? Did the establishment instruct employees to detect signs of intoxication? Management has explained to employees the process to refuse additional service?

These questions are central to Responsible alcohol service service, but reviewing training certificates alone may not answer them.

It is possible for a venue to have policies that are detailed, but not necessarily implement the policies. In the opposite situation, an employee may have complied with the rules of service even if it was not a good thing.

An operational review considers information on training, employee testimony, management oversight, and the actions that were recorded during the incident. Plaintiffs as well as defense attorneys will benefit from the distinction between the presence of the policy and its actual implementation.

Timeline can answer crucial answers to your questions

Imagine a customer who is served by multiple bartenders the same time during a busy night. The bartender who was first on the scene may be observing normal behavior. After a shift switch, another bartender could have served a different drink. In the future, a manager might have intervened.

It is possible to make these decisions appear to be a single continuous action without having to reconstruct the time line. When reviewing transaction records and staffing plans, as well as video surveillance and incident reports, it can be helpful to identify the person who knew what, and when. It is better to identify any missing footage or uncomplete reports than relying on speculative speculation.

Industry Practice and Legal Liability Are Different Issues

Hospitality experts can describe accepted operating guidelines and judge if the behavior of a particular venue was consistent with them.

The court still has the task of determining whether a person is legally responsible. The laws that govern alcohol stores differ from state-to-state as do the rules under which they may be accused of a crime.

Rideout Hospitality Consulting provides support for defense lawyers and plaintiffs throughout the United States via review of cases, operational analysis writing opinions and trial testimony, depositions and other forms of evidence. Its work focuses on alcohol-service decisions as well as staff training.

The most robust analyses can provide a reason for what the evidence does not show

An incident involving alcohol could have devastating consequences, but the severity of the result is not able to establish the exact date of the incident.

The attorney should be aware of the documents available as well as their limitations and the expectations of employees in the circumstances.

An analysis of hospitality is a thorough way to separate assumptions from documented actions and determine if the location’s practices were in line with the established standards or not. The courts then have the ability to evaluate the actual circumstances rather than just relying on the lessons they have learned.