An incident report for a hotel may consist of a few sentences. It describes the guest and describes the disturbance that occurred, names the respondent employees, and records the time management was notified.
For attorneys, this report could be more complicated than it can answer. Who was accountable for supervising the employees? Was surveillance footage preserved? Was the property in compliance with the rules? Did the property have previous interactions that were not recorded in the report.
These questions demonstrate the need to examine business records before witnesses testify in a lawsuit regarding hospitality.
Begin by examining the documents made during normal operations
Records are kept by hospitality businesses to plan guest services, staff training and security, management and more. Even though these documents weren’t intended for litigation, they could help establish how a property functioned in the aftermath of 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. As an example an example, a policy that is official may specify that the supervisor must respond if an employee reports an intoxicated client.
The investigation must determine if the manager was on duty and if the report was distributed, and what responses were provided in the evidence. It is more important to look at actual actions as opposed to assuming that written directives were followed or not observed.
There is a need for an independent interpretation of the restaurant’s records.
Restaurant investigations pose challenges since employees have to divide their time between food service, beverage preparation customers’ requests, managing the dining area. A Restaurant expert witness can provide an explanation of how these responsibilities affect the decisions employees make in service.
Imagine an incident in the dining room involving an individual who had purchased alcohol at the bar prior to settling into an area to sit. The bar receipt may record the order at first, while dining-room records will show the more recent orders.
The information in those records might not be revealing what the server was aware of about the prior service. Reexamining server assignments, transaction times as well as management notes and employee declarations together will help to clarify the process. A distinction needs to be made: the fact that alcohol was sold doesn’t automatically indicate that employees have been able to detect the presence of alcohol.
Casino Investigations may require different documents
Casino beverage programs can be significantly different from those offered by a typical restaurant. Other sources of information include complimentary drinks as well as mobile cocktail servers, and gaming floor supervisors.
A professional witness from a casino may look over the staffing assignments for beverages and surveillance footage and security reports as well as employee communication protocols. The typical sales receipt might not be accurate when complimentary beverages are involved.
In these situations an investigation can rely heavily on the surveillance, employee observation and service records as well as the procedures documented by the facility. The expert must also be able to identify any shortcomings in the evidence and not just accept an incomplete record.
You should keep the evidence up to the point that it’s no longer available
Conserving documents with time-sensitive information is an important concern in the context of litigation that involves hospitality. Certain surveillance systems can only store the records for a set amount of time. Information regarding employee schedules and internal communications as well as incident documentation are stored by different departments or systems. Attorneys should identify and save documents that could be relevant as quickly as they can.
The scope of the necessary investigation is contingent upon the facts. The extent of an investigation will be contingent on the accusations. A focused review will help identify what records are important without taking for granted that every department played a part.
Operational Experience Aids in Explaining the Paperwork
Preston Rideout is a hospitality veteran with more than 20 years of experience. He has held positions in bartending, management and beverage operations for multiple units. Through Rideout Hospitality Consulting, established in 2010 by Preston Rideout, he has provided advice to the hotel, restaurant and resort owners in the United States and internationally.
He has been an expert witness in trials involving hotels, casinos, resorts as well as restaurants for the plaintiffs and defense counsel. It’s beneficial to have an understanding of hospitality management in order to understand documents that appear simple to those who are not familiar with the business.
A schedule of staffing is a good example. It lists those who were assigned to work. To determine if those assignments were appropriate, you need to know the structure of the property and its operating conditions.
A Stronger Case Begins With Clearer Questions
Early expert review helps attorneys differentiate between unresolved and documented issues. It will help identify documents that should be requested and also clarify the operational terminology employed in depositions.
There are many reasons why discrepancies may not be indicative of a failure in operation. Neither is every policy that proves that the correct procedure was adhered to.
It is the significance of an expert’s analysis that demonstrates these distinctions by using recognized practice in the field and supporting evidence. When lawyers prepare the case for a hospitality client, understanding the operation before questioning its employees can result in a more specific, convincing analysis of what actually transpired.
