The hotel incident report could only contain a few sentences. The report lists the guests, explains what happened, names staff who responded and records the time management was notified.
The report can raise multiple questions for an attorney. Who was responsible for supervising the workers involved? Was surveillance footage preserved? The facility followed its own procedures. Are there any previous interactions that never appeared in the report?
These questions illustrate the reason why hospitality litigation typically calls for an examination of regular business records prior to when witness testimony begins.
Begin with the documents that are created during normal operations
The hospitality industry’s businesses keep records of scheduling, guest service as well as security, training and management. They are not designed for litigation, but they can be used to determine how the hotel operated in 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 policy could stipulate that the manager should respond to an employee who reports an intoxicated client.
The investigation should establish if the manager worked on the incident, if the complaint was made, and in light of the evidence, what was the response. The objective is to assess the actual operation rather than assuming that the procedures written down were followed or ignored.
The interpretation of restaurant records may be different
The employees are split into the food service, beverage preparation as well as customer service and dining room management. This poses a challenge for investigation of restaurants. A professional witness in the restaurant industry will be able to show how decisions made by employees are affected by these responsibilities.
Imagine a scenario where the customer ordered drinks from the bar and was moved to a table. The bar receipt may document the initial purchase, whereas the table transaction records could document subsequent orders.
Those records may not reveal what the server knew of the prior service. The combination of server assignments and transaction times, as well as management notes, and employee records could help in determining the sequence. It is crucial to note the distinction that just because alcohol was bought does not mean that employees noticed that they were drunk.
Casino Investigations may require different forms of documentation
Casinos have beverage programs which can be quite different from traditional restaurant services. The inclusion of complimentary drinks and cocktail servers on the gaming floor and security personnel are all sources of additional information.
A casino expert witness could review beverage staffing, security reports and surveillance footage. They can also go over procedures for employee communication. If drinks are offered in a free service, the receipts from sales traditionally are incomplete.
In those circumstances the investigation might rely more heavily upon surveillance, employee observations, service documentation, and even the property’s documented procedures. Experts must be aware of the limitations of evidence, rather than accepting incomplete records as proof.
Save the evidence until it is no longer available
The preservation of documents that are time sensitive is a crucial consideration in litigation that involves hospitality. Records from surveillance systems may be retained for a brief period of time. Different departments or systems can store employee schedules, internal communication, and incident documents. Attorneys need to identify and archive potentially relevant records as soon as they can.
The extent of the investigation is contingent on the type of allegations. The scope of an investigation will be contingent on the accusations. Specific reviews can help determine which documents are necessary without assuming that all departments were involved.
Operations Experience Helps Explain the Paperwork
Preston Rideout is a hospitality veteran with more than 20 years of experience. He has held positions in management, bartending and beverages operations in a variety of units. Rideout Hospitality Consulting was established in 2010 and has provided assistance to hotel, restaurant and resort owners across the United States.
His expert witness work includes matters that involve hotels, restaurants resorts, casinos and hotels for plaintiff and defense counsel. That operational background is useful when interpreting records that may appear simple to someone unfamiliar with the management of hospitality.
A staffing schedule includes, for instance, the people who were designated to work. To determine if these assignments were appropriate it is necessary to understand the structure of the facility as well as its operating conditions.
To help build a stronger case Ask more pertinent questions
Early expert review assists attorneys differentiate between unresolved and documented issues. It can help determine which records should be requested and also clarify the terminology used in depositions.
It is not required to prove that a policy written was followed in the event of divergences.
It is the importance of an expert’s assessment that shows these distinctions using established business practices and pertinent evidence. Attorneys preparing for a hospitality lawsuit will benefit from knowing the company and its employees before interviewing them. This allows for to conduct a thorough review of the events that occurred.