An incident report for a hotel may contain only a few paragraphs. It includes the name of the guest, a description of the incident and the names of the staff members who responded.
An attorney’s report may bring more questions than it can answer. Who was accountable for supervising these employees? Was surveillance footage preserved? Did the property adhere to its established guidelines? Are there any previous interactions which were not reflected in the reports?
These issues illustrate why litigation involving hospitality often requires an examination of ordinary business records before witness testimony begins.
Begin with the documents that are created in normal operation
Documents are kept by hospitality businesses for scheduling guest services, staff training, security, management, and many more. Although they weren’t intended for litigation, they can help identify how a place operated in the event of a specific 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 example A written policy could have a manager respond when an employee has a complaint about an drunken guest.
Investigating whether or if the manager was actually working, whether or not the report was properly communicated and what response is evident from the evidence available should be the goal. Instead of inferring that procedures were adhered to or not it is important to find out what actually transpired.
Restaurant records require their own Interpretation
Restaurant investigations pose challenges since employees are split between food service, beverage preparation the customer’s requests and managing the dining area. An expert witness for Restaurants can explain how these responsibilities impact the choices that employees make during service.
Imagine a dining room incident that involved the customer who purchased alcohol at the bar before making the move to a table. The bar receipt could record the purchase at the beginning, and the transaction records for dining room transactions indicate later purchases.
However, those records might not provide a clear picture of what the table server knew about the previous service. Combining the server assignment the time of transactions, managerial notes and employee statements will help to clarify the order. It is important to make the distinction that the fact that alcohol was purchased doesn’t mean employees noticed that they were drunk.
Casino Investigations May Require Different Records
Casinos have beverage programs which can be quite different from conventional restaurant service. Drinks are free, there are mobile cocktail servers, gaming floor supervisors and extensive security operations provide other sources of information.
An expert witness from a casino could review the assignment of staff to drink and surveillance footage including security reports, employee communications procedures. Traditional sales receipts might provide an incomplete account when drinks are provided for free.
In such a case an investigation can be heavily based on the surveillance evidence, observations of employees and service records, as well as the documented procedures of the facility. The expert should also be able recognize any flaws in the evidence and not be content with an insufficient report.
Make sure you keep the evidence until it is no longer available
The preservation of documents that are time sensitive is a crucial consideration when it comes to litigation related to hospitality. Recordings from surveillance systems can be retained for a brief time. The information about employees’ schedules and internal communications and incident documents are stored by different departments or systems. Attorneys must be aware of relevant documents and implement the appropriate measures early.
The extent of the investigation is contingent on the type of allegations. A restaurant complaint may require documentation for dining and bar areas and a resort-related incident could require documentation of the event transport arrangements, as well as security communications. A targeted review helps establish the relevant records without taking for granted that every department played some function.
Operational Experience helps explain the Paperwork
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 that he established in the year 2010. He has advised the resort, restaurant and hotel operators across the United States.
Expert witness testimony in favor of plaintiffs and defendants has included matters that involved resorts, casinos, restaurants, and hotels. This knowledge of operations is beneficial in the interpretation of records that might seem simple to someone who is not experienced in hospitality management.
A schedule of staffing, for example identifies those given the task of working. The service model and the operational environment of a building is crucial to establish if the assignments are supervised in a proper manner.
To make a more convincing case Ask more pertinent questions
A quick review by an expert can assist attorneys in separating established facts from ambiguous issues. It can identify records that are worthy of requesting and help define the terms that is used in depositions.
It is not required to show that a written policy was followed in the event of divergences.
The importance of expert analysis is to explain the distinctions with relevant evidence and accepted industry practices. For attorneys preparing a hospitality case, understanding the operations prior to questioning employees can result in a more precise, reliable investigation of what actually happened.