An incident report for an establishment could be only one or two paragraphs. It includes the name of the guest, a description of the incident as well as the names of the responding staff.
For an attorney, that report may bring more questions than it answers. Who was the person who was supervising employees in question? Was surveillance footage preserved? Was the property in compliance with the rules? Did the property experience any prior interactions that weren’t recorded in the report.
These questions illustrate the reason why it’s often necessary to review business records prior to when a witness testifies in a case involving hospitality.
Begin by reviewing the documents created in normal business operations.
Hotels create documents for training, scheduling guests, guest service, security, and management. Even though the documents were not intended for use in litigation however, they can be useful in establishing how a property performed during a specific incident.
A witness from the hospitality industry will examine the staffing schedules 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. For instance an example, a policy that is official may stipulate that the manager should respond to an employee who notifies them of a drunk client.
The investigation will determine whether the manager was in fact working on the report, if it was distributed, and what response was provided by the evidence. It is important to look at actual actions than to presume that the written instructions were followed or not observed.
The interpretation of restaurant records is different
Restaurant investigations pose challenges since employees divide their attention among food service, beverage preparation customers’ requests, the management of the dining room. A Restaurant expert witness can provide an explanation of how these responsibilities affect the decisions employees make in service.
Consider an incident in the dining room involving someone who bought alcohol at the bar prior to settling into a table. The bar receipt may document the first purchase while the restaurant transaction records might record subsequent purchases.
The records could not provide what the server’s information was about the previous service. Combining server assignments and transaction times, as well as management notes, and employee declarations can clarify the sequence. It is important to recognize an important distinction: simply because alcohol was consumed doesn’t mean the employees noticed that they were drunk.
Casino Investigations May Require Different Records
Casinos offer beverage services that are different than those provided by restaurants. Cocktails with complimentary drinks, mobile servers, gaming floor supervisors as well as extensive security operations are other sources of information.
A Casino expert witness may review beverage staffing assignments, surveillance footage, security reports, and procedures governing employee communication. If beverages are offered as a complimentary service, traditional sales receipts may be incomplete.
In such a case the investigation could depend heavily on surveillance records, employee observations and service records as well as the procedures that are documented for the property. Experts must be aware of the limitations of evidence, rather than accepting incomplete records as proof.
Conserve the Evidence before It becomes unavailable
The preservation of documents that are time sensitive is a significant issue for hospitality litigation. Surveillance systems might keep records for a limited time. Schedules of employees, internal communications, as well as incident-related documentation could be stored in different departments or in different systems. Attorneys need to identify and archive documents that could be relevant as quickly as possible.
The scope of the investigation depends on the type of accusations. A restaurant complaint may require bar and dining-room records and a resort-related incident could need documentation for the event, transportation arrangements, and security communications. A specific audit helps determine the relevant records without presuming that every department had a part.
Understanding the paperwork is easier with experience from the operational side.
Preston Rideout, a hospitality professional since 1996, has experience in bartending and nightclub management as well as multi-unit drinks operations. Through Rideout Hospitality Consulting, established in 2010, he has consulted the hotel, restaurant and resort operators throughout the United States and internationally.
Expert witness testimony for both plaintiffs and defendants has covered issues related to resorts, casinos or restaurants, as well as hotels. This operational background can be beneficial in the interpretation of records that might seem simple to someone who is unfamiliar with hospitality management.
A staffing plan is one example. It identifies who was given the task. To determine if the assignments were appropriate, you need to know the structure of the facility and its operational conditions.
Clearness in your questions is the initial step to a stronger argument
Early expert review helps attorneys identify unresolved and documented problems. The review can reveal additional records to request, define operational terminology for depositions, and determine which employee decisions need closer scrutiny.
There are many reasons why discrepancies may not be indicative of an operational failure. Not every policy that proves that the correct procedures were implemented.
It is the significance of an expert’s report that illustrates these distinctions by using recognized business practices and pertinent evidence. Knowing the process prior to conducting an investigation into employees in a hotel matter can help lawyers prepare the case for a an unbiased and trustworthy examination.