A report of an incident at the hotel could only be a few paragraphs long. The report identifies the guests, describes what happened, names staff who responded and records when the management was informed.
This report may bring up more questions for an attorney than it is able to solve. Who was the person who was supervising employees in question? Was surveillance footage preserved? Did the property follow its rules? Did previous interactions occur that were not recorded in the report?
These questions demonstrate the need to review business records prior to when an individual witness is called to testify in a lawsuit involving hospitality.
Start With the Documents Created During Normal Operations
Hotels create documents for scheduling, training guests, guest service, security, and management. These documents were not necessarily intended for litigation however they can be used to determine how the property operated during an 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 the written policy may require a manager to respond to an employee’s report of an drunken guest.
The investigation should establish whether the manager was actually working on the report, if it was communicated, and what responses were provided in the evidence. The objective is to assess the actual activities rather than inferring that written procedures were either adhered to or not followed.
There is a need for a separate interpretation of the restaurant’s records.
The investigation process in restaurants is difficult because restaurant employees are required to split their time between cooking food and serving customers as well as overseeing the dining room. A professional witness in the restaurant industry can help demonstrate how decisions made by employees are affected by these responsibilities.
Imagine a situation in which the client purchased alcohol at the bar before being transferred to the table. The bar receipt may document the first purchase while the transactions in the dining room could document subsequent orders.
Those records may not reveal what the server’s information was about the prior service. Reviewing all the data including the server’s assignments and times of transactions as well as management notes and employee statements will help clarify the sequence. One important point to remember is: the evidence of alcohol consumption is not automatically evidence that employees were aware of intoxication.
Casino Investigations may require different records
Casinos operate beverage programs that differ significantly from standard restaurant service. The availability of complimentary drinks and cocktail servers on the gaming floor and security personnel are all sources of additional information.
An expert witness at a casino can look over the staffing assignments for beverages as well as surveillance video as well as security reports and employee communication procedures. When beverages are provided as a complimentary service the traditional receipts for sales can be not complete.
In such a case an investigation can rely heavily on the surveillance available, employee observations and service records, as well as the procedures that are documented for the building. The expert should also be able to identify any weaknesses in the evidence, rather than treating an incomplete document as evidence of an incident.
Save the evidence until it’s no more available
The preservation of records that are sensitive is a significant issue for litigation involving hospitality. Some surveillance systems only keep recordings for a specified period of time. Information regarding employees’ schedules and internal communications and incident documents are stored by different departments or systems. Attorneys must identify and preserve any relevant records as quickly as they can.
The scope of the investigation depends on the type of accusations. For example the restaurant might require documents for the dining room or bar. An incident at a resort could need documentation of the event, travel arrangements, or security communication. A specific audit helps determine what records are important without taking for granted that every department played a part.
The Paperwork is a Product of operational experience
Preston Rideout, a hospitality professional since 1996, is experienced in nightclub management and bartending and multi-unit beverage operations. Rideout Hospitality Consulting is a business he started in the year 2010. He has provided advice to restaurants, resorts and hotel operators across the United States.
Expert witness work for him includes matters involving restaurants, hotels resorts, casinos and hotels for defense and plaintiff attorneys. This background in operations can be beneficial when interpreting documents that may seem straightforward to someone who is unfamiliar with hospitality management.
A staffing schedule For instance, it identifies the individuals who were assigned to work. To determine if the assignments were appropriate you should know the structure of the facility and its operational conditions.
To create a stronger argument and build a stronger case, you must ask better questions.
Early review by experts helps attorneys differentiate documents from unresolved issues. It helps identify documents that merit requesting as well as define the operational terms that is used in depositions.
Each discrepancy does not indicate an operational issue and not every written policy proves that appropriate procedures were adhered to.
It is the value of an expert’s report that illustrates these distinctions using accepted industry practices and relevant evidence. Attorneys who are preparing for a hospitality lawsuit will benefit from knowing the operation and its employees before conducting an interview with them. This will enable an in-depth examination of what happened.