An incident report for an establishment could be only a few paragraphs long. The report will contain the name of the guest, the description of the incident, and the names of the personnel who attended to the incident.
The report could raise multiple issues to an attorney. Who was the person in charge of the employees in this matter? Was surveillance footage preserved? Did the property follow established procedures? Did the property have previous interactions that weren’t included in the report.
These questions illustrate why litigation involving hospitality often demands an examination of normal business records prior to when witness testimony begins.
Begin with the documents that are created in normal operation
Documents are kept by hospitality businesses for scheduling guest services, training for staff and security, management and much more. Although these records were not intended to be used in court They are helpful for the purpose of determining how a place performed in the event of a specific incident.
An expert witness in hospitality will review the schedules of staffing along with operating procedures, the employee’s training records as well as security logs and surveillance recordings to comprehend the duties assigned to which personnel. A written policy might require the manager to respond to an employee who reports an intoxicated client.
The investigation should establish whether the manager was actually working on the report, if it was distributed, and what response the evidence reveals. Instead of concluding that the procedures were not followed or not, the goal is to assess how the actual operation were actually carried out.
The interpretation of restaurant records can be different
The employees are split into the food service, beverage preparation as well as dining-room management. This presents a problem for investigation into restaurant operations. A restaurant expert witness can explain the impact of these duties on the decisions taken by employees in service.
Consider a dining-room incident involving an individual who had ordered drinks at the bar prior to moving to a table. The bar receipt will confirm the initial order while dining-room records will show the later orders.
But, these records might not provide proof of the knowledge of the tableserver about the earlier service. Combining the server assignment and transaction times, as well as management notes and employee statements can help clarify the process. One important point to remember is: the fact that alcohol was bought does not necessarily mean that the employee was aware of their intoxication.
Casino Investigations May require different documents
Casinos operate beverage programs which can be quite different from traditional restaurant services. Additional sources of information are complimentary drinks, mobile cocktail servers and gaming floor supervisors.
A Casino expert witness may review the beverage staffing arrangements, security reports, surveillance footage as well as the rules governing employee communications. The conventional sales receipt may not be accurate when complimentary drinks are involved.
In those instances the investigation could rely more heavily on surveillance records and employee observation, service documents, and the process of the property’s documents. The expert should also be able identify any shortcomings in the evidence and not just accept an incomplete report.
Keep the Evidence in place before it is lost forever.
Preserving time-sensitive documents is an important concern when it comes to litigation that involves hospitality. Surveillance systems may retain recordings for short periods. Information about employee schedules and internal communications as well as incident documentation can be stored by different departments or systems. Attorneys must identify pertinent records and take the necessary steps in the early stages.
The scope of the investigation varies on the type of allegations. The scope of an investigation will depend on the allegations. Specific reviews can help determine the records that are crucial without assuming that every department was involved.
The paperwork is the result of Operational Experience
Preston Rideout has worked in hospitality since 1996, with experience in bartending, nightclub management, and multi-unit beverage operations. Rideout Hospitality Consulting is a company he founded in the year 2010. He has advised the resort, restaurant, and hotel operators throughout the United States.
His expert witness work involves matters that involve hotels, restaurants resorts, casinos and hotels for both defense and plaintiff lawyers. It’s helpful to have some experience in hospitality management for interpreting documents that appear simple to those who are not experienced in the field.
Staffing plans, for instance determine who was given the task. Understanding the model of service and the operational environment of a building is crucial to establish if the assignments are supervised in a proper manner.
To help build a stronger case and build a stronger case, you must ask better questions.
An early review by an expert can help lawyers distinguish between evidence-based facts and questions that remain unanswered. It could help uncover additional documents worth requesting, help clarify operational terminology for depositions, and determine which employee actions require more scrutiny.
The reason for discrepancies is not always because of an operational issue. There isn’t a single procedure that proves that the right procedures were adhered to.
The value of hospitality expert analysis lies in explaining the distinctions with relevant evidence and accepted industry practices. Understanding the procedure prior to conducting an investigation into employees in a hotel case can assist attorneys in preparing a case with a more precise and credible investigation.