The incident report for a hotel may just be a few paragraphs. The report details guests, details the incident, names the employees who responded, and records when the management was informed.
This report could raise more questions for an attorney than it is able to answer. Who was responsible for supervising the workers involved? Was surveillance footage preserved? Did the property adhere to its prescribed procedures? There were earlier interactions that were not recorded in the reports?
These issues illustrate the reason why hospitality litigation typically demands an examination of normal business records before witness testimony commences.
Begin with the Documents that were created during normal operations
Hotels and restaurants keep records of scheduling, guest service security, training, and management. Although they weren’t made to aid in legal proceedings, they may help establish how a property functioned in the event of a specific incident.
A Hospitality expert witness may examine staffing schedules, operating procedures, employee training files, security logs, and surveillance recordings to understand the responsibilities assigned to different personnel. For instance, a written policy might require a manager to respond when an employee has a complaint about an drunken guest.
The investigation should determine if the manager was on duty and if the report was distributed, and what response was provided by the evidence. Instead of inferring that procedures were adhered to or not it is important to assess how the actual operation actually took place.
Restaurant Records require their own Interpretation
The employees are split between the food service, beverage prep, customer requests and dining-room management. This is a major challenge for investigation into restaurant operations. An expert witness for Restaurants can discuss how these responsibilities impact the choices that employees take during service.
Consider a dining-room incident involving a customer who ordered alcohol at a bar before taking a seat at a table. The bar receipt can record the order at first, while the dining room records will document the later orders.
However, these records might not be able to determine what the table server was aware of about the previous service. Combining the server assignment the time of transactions, managerial notes and employee communications will help to clarify the order. It is crucial to note a distinction: just because alcohol was purchased doesn’t mean the employees noticed that they were drunk.
Casino Investigations Can Require Different Records
Casinos offer drink packages which are distinct from the ones offered by restaurants. Additional sources of information include free drinks, mobile cocktail servers and gaming-floor supervisors.
A casino expert witness can examine beverage staffing, security footage and surveillance. They can also go over processes for employee communication. Traditional sales receipts can give an inaccurate account if drinks are provided for free.
In such a case the investigation may rely more heavily on surveillance, employee observation or service records as well as documented procedures. The expert needs to also recognize weaknesses in the evidence, instead of taking an insufficient document as evidence of an event.
Preserve the Evidence Before It is lost forever.
One practical concern in hospitality litigation is the protection of time-sensitive records. Surveillance systems’ records can be saved for a specific time. Different departments or systems may keep employee calendars, internal communications and incidental records. Attorneys should be able to spot potentially relevant records in the early stages and take the appropriate steps to secure the records.
It’s dependent on the nature of the claim. For example the restaurant might require restaurant and bar records. A resort-related incident could require event documentation such as travel arrangements or security communications. A focused review will help identify the records that are pertinent without having to assume that all departments played an important role.
Operations Experience Helps Explain the Paperwork
Preston Rideout is a hospitality veteran with over 20 years of experience. He has held various positions in bartending, management and beverages operations in a variety of units. Through Rideout Hospitality Consulting, established in 2010, he has consulted restaurant, hotel, and resort operators throughout the United States and internationally.
His work as an expert witness includes matters involving restaurants, hotels resorts, casinos, and restaurants for plaintiff and defense counsel. This operational background can be helpful when interpreting records that may seem simple to someone not familiar with hospitality management.
Staffing schedules, like determine who was assigned to work. To determine if the assignments were appropriate you must know the structure of the building and its operating conditions.
To make a more convincing case to build a stronger case, ask more questions
A quick review by an expert will help attorneys to distinguish between evidence-based facts and questions that remain unanswered. It helps identify documents that are worth requesting and define the terms that is used in depositions.
Each discrepancy does not indicate an operational failure or a lack of document proves that the appropriate procedures were adhered to.
A professional analysis of hospitality is helpful when it can explain these distinctions using relevant evidence and industry-recognized practices. In the case of attorneys who are working on an investigation into hospitality, knowing the company prior to questioning its employees can result in a clearer, more accurate examination of what actually occurred.
