Serving Smart
Sticking to the Standard of Care to Limit Liability

Many bars and restaurants are settling liquor liability claims during litigation, and many are losing at trial. Liquor licensees should be prepared to get a loan, bankrupt their businesses or empty their savings account when they lose in court.
    You may ask what’s gone wrong. Alcohol awareness training is sub-standard because the training programs do not cover sufficiently what is asked or requested of your personnel during liquor liability litigation. 
    Alcohol awareness training programs must be better today then in the past. Valid training is responsible liquor service and much more, including well-written policies and procedures, management supervision and discipline.

Training Highlights
    Alcohol awareness training teaches being responsible, and, when in doubt, to not serve. The training supports that when a person shows obvious signs and symptoms, you must cut them off. But how many of the training programs promote that when a person has consumed numerous alcoholic beverages, servers also must cut them off, absent any signs or symptoms? When was the last time you attended training that presented ideas for policies and procedures, or how to discipline and document your employees’ behavior?
    I have not seen a training program without a blood alcohol chart in the hand-out. The chart, which shows a person’s weight and a corresponding number of drinks, will place a person at a certain alcohol level. If the industry uses the chart, then you must explain to staff how many drinks can be dangerous to any given person, based upon the guest’s weight, over a set period of time. We know that a person with a high BAC is dangerous, and that risk is undisputed, and you are taught to know when someone is dangerous because you are supplied the BAC chart in training. 
    Consider what would happen if you or your employees are faced with the following questions during a deposition in connection with a liquor liability claim. Can your organization address any of the issues raised in these seven questions?
1. Does this appear to be the training program you took, showing them the page with the BAC chart?
2. What was taught regarding the Blood Alcohol Chart?
3. Do you agree with the chart’s depiction of what is dangerous once a particular BAC level is reached?
4. Would you drive an automobile at a .08 BAC level?
5. Do you believe driving a car at .08 percent is
dangerous?
6. Would you want any of your patrons driving at a .08 once they leave your bar?
7. What procedures does your establishment practice to keep patrons from reaching a .08 blood alcohol level?

    The training you receive and the policies you write and follow are fast becoming a major indicator of your serving practices during liquor liability litigation. Training programs, published articles and political pressure have helped set the standard of care within the industry. 

Experts Know
    Toxicologists calculate exactly how many ounces of hard liquor or beer or wine a person has consumed based on their BAC. This calculation is projected through blood, by urine, an intoxilizer blow and, when deceased, by ocular (eye) fluid.
    If the drunk driver is deceased, the basic premise is that the dissipation of alcohol from the body stops when the person expires. These levels will allow the toxicologist to work in reverse attempting to find the person’s total consumption and place a fairly close estimate of how many “total standard drinks” he or she has consumed. The expert also provides a BAC level. 
    These aforementioned questions are designed to illustrate how a reasonable and responsible person will serve alcohol. Does our alcohol awareness training need updating?
    Certainly your concern should be the welfare of your patrons and the public at large. We as an industry can advance alcohol awareness training for all our needs, but we must work together to achieve this goal.   

Hopes for the Future
    This article is meant to encourage use of legitimate training programs, from the mom-and-pop operation to the chain establishment that conducts its own in-house training program. It is intended to explain a few training inadequacies and what happens when litigation commences.
    We are all eager for alcohol awareness training to evolve into being far more detailed. Enhance your training program, your policies and procedures, so that they are pro-active, rather then reactive. Teach the methods of prevention before the problem ever happens, and you minimize your exposure to
liability and loss.                                                           NCB