The hotel incident reports may comprise only a few sentences. It describes the guest and describes the disturbance, names the responding employees and also records the time management was notified.
An attorney’s report might be more complicated than it addresses. Who was responsible for supervising the employees? Was surveillance footage preserved? Was the property in compliance with its procedures? Was the property involved in earlier interactions that weren’t recorded in the report.
These questions demonstrate the need to examine business records before witness testimony in a lawsuit regarding hospitality.
Begin by reviewing the documents that were produced in normal business operations.
Businesses that operate in the hospitality industry create records for scheduling, training and guest service, security, and administration. While these records weren’t created to be used in litigation, they are useful for documenting how a facility performed in the event of a specific incident.
An expert witness in hospitality may examine staffing schedules, and operating procedures, as in addition to employee training files as well as security logs, and surveillance camera recordings to determine the duties that are assigned to each employee. A written policy might require that the manager take action to any employee who has reported an intoxicated customer.
In the course of investigating the incident, it is important to determine if the manager worked on the incident, if the complaint was made, and based on the evidence, what the response was. The objective is to assess actual operations rather than assume that written guidelines were observed or not.
There is the need for a different analysis of the restaurant’s registers
Restaurant investigations present challenges because employees have to divide their time between the preparation of beverages, food service the customer’s requests and the management of the dining room. A Restaurant expert witness can explain how these responsibilities affect the decisions employees make during service.
Think about an incident in a dining room, involving the patron who bought alcohol at the bar prior to settling into a seat. The bar receipt might document the initial purchase, while the dining-room transaction records record later purchases.
However, these records may not confirm what the tableserver was aware of about the earlier service. Examining all the information together such as the server’s assignments and times of transactions as well as management notes and employee statements, can help to clarify the order of events. It is important to recognize the distinction that just because alcohol was bought doesn’t mean employees were intoxicated.
Casino Investigations May Require Different Records
Casinos have beverage programs that are different from the ones provided by restaurants. The availability of complimentary drinks cocktails, servers serving drinks on the gaming floor, and security personnel are all sources of additional information.
A certified witness at a casino can review the assignment of staff to drink and surveillance footage including security reports, employees’ communication methods. If the beverages are offered as a complimentary service, the traditional receipts for sales can be insufficient.
In these circumstances the investigation may rely more on surveillance, employee observation as well as service records and documented procedures. Experts must identify the limitations of evidence, instead of accepting insufficient records as evidence.
Save the evidence until it’s no longer accessible
A major concern in the hospitality litigation field is the protection of time-sensitive records. Surveillance systems might keep records for only a short time. Schedules of employees, internal communications, and incident records may be kept in various systems or departments. Attorneys need to identify and archive any relevant records as quickly as they can.
The nature of the investigation will depend on the type of allegations. A restaurant claim may require documents for the dining room and bar and a resort-related incident could need documentation for the event as well as transportation arrangements and security communications. It is possible to determine relevant records by conducting an in-depth review without having to assume that every department was involved.
The Paperwork is a Result of Operating Experience
Preston Rideout is a hospitality veteran with over twenty years of experience. He has held roles in management, bartending and beverage operations for multiple divisions. Rideout Hospitality Consulting is a business he started in the year 2010. He has provided advice to the resort, restaurant and hotel owners across the United States.
Expert witness testimony for both plaintiffs as well as defendants has involved matters that involved resorts, casinos or restaurants, as well as hotels. It’s beneficial to have some experience in hospitality management to interpret documents that seem straightforward to those who aren’t experienced in the field.
A staffing plan, for example identifies those who were given the task of working. Understanding whether those assignments provided appropriate supervision requires knowledge of the model of service for the property and operational conditions.
To help build a stronger case Ask more pertinent questions
Early expert review helps attorneys distinguish between documented and unresolved issues. It could help identify which documents are worthy of requesting, or defining the terms used to describe depositions.
Each discrepancy does not indicate an operational failure however, not every written policy proves that appropriate procedures were adhered to.
The analysis of a professional in the field of hospitality is beneficial when it can explain the differences using evidence and industry-recognized practices. Attorneys who are preparing for a hospitality lawsuit can benefit from a thorough understanding of the operation and its employees before conducting an interview with them. This allows for an unbiased analysis of what transpired.