The hotel incident report may be a short document with only a few words. The report will contain the name of the guest, a description of the issue and the names of the responding staff.
As an attorney, that report can be more complicated than it can answer. Who was responsible for supervising the employees? Was surveillance footage preserved? Did the property follow established procedures? Did the property have earlier interactions that were not recorded in the report.
These questions highlight the reason why hospitality litigation typically demands an examination of normal business records prior to when witness testimony commences.
Start with the documents created in normal operation
Records are kept by hospitality businesses for scheduling guest services, staff training and security, as well as management and much more. Although these records weren’t created for use in litigation but they can be helpful in documenting how a facility performed during a specific incident.
A professional witness in hospitality will examine the staffing schedules as well as operating procedures, the employee’s training records, security logs and monitoring recordings in order to better know what duties are attributable to different employees. Written policies may demand that a manager respond to an employee who reports an intoxicated client.
In the course of investigating the incident, it is important to determine if the manager worked and if a report was made, and from the evidence what the response was. The goal is to evaluate the actual operation rather than assuming that written guidelines were observed or not.
The interpretation of restaurant records may be different
Restaurant investigations pose challenges since employees split their attention between food service, beverage preparation as well as customer demands and managing the dining area. A Restaurant expert witness can explain how these responsibilities affect the decisions employees make during service.
Think about a dining-room incident that involves customers who have ordered alcohol at the bar, before taking a seat at a table. The bar receipt might document the initial purchase, while restaurant transaction records might record subsequent purchases.
However, those records might not establish the information that the table server had about the prior service. Combining the server assignment the time of transactions, managerial notes and employee communications can help clarify the process. One important point to remember is: the fact that alcohol was bought isn’t necessarily proof that staff recognized intoxication.
Casino Investigations May require different documents
Casinos have drink programs that differ from the ones provided by restaurants. The availability of complimentary drinks as well as cocktail servers at the casino floor and security personnel are all sources of additional information.
An expert witness from a casino may look over the staffing assignments for beverages as well as surveillance footage as well as security reports and employee communication procedures. If the beverages are offered in a free service, traditional sales receipts may be insufficient.
In those circumstances, the investigation may depend more heavily upon surveillance employees’ observations, employee documents, and the documenting procedures of the property. Experts must be aware of the weaknesses of evidence instead of accepting insufficient records as proof.
Save the evidence until it’s no longer accessible
One practical concern when it comes to hospitality litigation is the protection of time sensitive records. Surveillance systems’ records can be retained for a brief time. Employee schedules, internal communications and incident documents may be kept in different departments or in different systems. Attorneys should be able to locate relevant documents and implement the appropriate actions early.
The scope of the investigation varies on the type of allegations. The scope of the investigation will depend on the allegations. A targeted review helps establish what records are important without assuming every department played any part.
The process of preparing paperwork is simpler when you have operational experience
Preston Rideout has worked in hospitality since 1996, with prior experience in bartending, nightclub management, as well as multi-unit drinks operations. Rideout Hospitality Consulting is a company he founded in the year 2010. He has advised restaurants, resorts and hotel owners across the United States.
Expert witness testimony for both plaintiffs and defendants has included issues related to resorts, casinos restaurant, hotels, and casinos. The operational background is beneficial in the interpretation of records that could seem easy to a person who is unfamiliar with hospitality management.
A staffing schedule, for example identifies those who were given the task of working. Understanding the model of service and operational conditions of a property is necessary to determine whether these assignments will provide the appropriate supervision.
A Stronger Case Begins With Simpler Questions
Early expert review assists attorneys distinguish between documented and unresolved issues. It can help determine which records should be requested and also define the terms that is used in depositions.
Some discrepancies are not indicative of a failure in operation. There isn’t a single policy that proves the correct procedure was implemented.
Expert analysis in hospitality is useful when it can explain these distinctions using relevant evidence and well-known practices. When lawyers prepare an investigation into hospitality, knowing the business prior to questioning its employees can lead to a clearer, more accurate investigation of what actually happened.
