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OCR for page 62
5
What Servers
Can Do
TN OVER HALF THE STATES in the nation, commercial servers of
| alcoholic beverages can be held liable for damage or injuries
~ caused by their drunken or underage patrons. These servers
can include bartenders, waiters and waitresses, the managers
or operators of an establishment that sells alcohol, or the owners
of an establishment. In some states this liability extends even
to noncommercial servers, such as hosts at a party or bartenders
at an informal social gathering.
These dramshop laws, as they are known, establish civil li-
abilities. They complement both a state's Alcoholic Beverage
Control (ABC) laws and its criminal sanctions against such acts
as selling alcohol to a minor. Courts around the country have
repeatedly upheld the validity of these laws. "Such business
responsibilities are common to other professions offering ser-
vices to the public," says lames Mosher of the Medical Research
Institute of San Francisco. "The primary debate should not be
the existence of that responsibility but rather its scope."
Despite their solid legal standing, dramshop laws have been
difficult to apply. A commercial server can be held liable only
if he or she sold alcohol to an underage or "obviously intoxi-
cated" person. The vague wording of the latter prohibition
offers little guidance either to a server or to members of a jury.
Noncommercial servers, such as social hosts, fraternity barten-
62
OCR for page 63
WHAT SERVERS CAN DO / 63
ders, or employers, have only been held liable for serving un-
derage drinkers. When court cases in Iowa and Caiifor~ua ~mpliec!
that social hosts could be held liable for serving obviously in-
toxicated guests, each state quickly passed legislation contra-
vening the decision.
This chapter concentrates on commercial rather than non-
commercial servers for several reasons. For one thing, experi-
ence with dramshop laws is still limited. At this early stage,
commercial establishments offer the best setting for learning
about effective ways for servers to protect their patrons anti
guests.
Also, people who have been drinking in public establish-
ments tend to make up a large fraction of drunk drivers. In one
roadside survey, 44 percent of the drivers with blood alcohol
contents above 0.10 percent were driving to, from, or between
public eating and drinking places.
Finally, changes macle in commercial establishments cannot
help but carry over into private life. "Serving practices in private
settings will inevitably be affected both by the public example
of concern set by new professional practices and by the diffu-
sion of experience gained by employees, trainers, and research-
ers into the common body of knowledge and custom," says
Mosher.
Bartender Training
The most obvious way for a drinking establishment to avoid
dramshop liability is for its servers to see that patrons do not
get drunk or do not harm themselves or others if they do.
Servers have several such ways to intervene on behalf of their
customers. They can make it less convenient or acceptable for
a person to get drunk or try to drive while drunk. They can
suggest that a person wait to sober up or arrange for a friend
or taxi to take that person home. They can even physically
restrain a person or report to the police someone who insists
on driving drunk. As might be expected, none of these options
is easy. To a bar or tavern owner, intervention can mean lower
profits. To a commercial server, intervention can mean the in-
convenience of arranging a ricle or a place to stay or the sheer
OCR for page 64
64 / ALCOHOL IN AMERICA
unpleasantness of telling a person that he or she is incompetent
to drive. In many cases, servers need special training to be able
to carry out these tasks successfully.
This is one of the reasons for the several "server intervention"
programs that have sprung up across the country in recent
years. Typically, these programs offer training sessions on the
effects of alcohol on the body, signs of intoxication, the legal
responsibilities of servers, ways to cut off service to people who
are drinking too much, how to handle intoxicated people, man-
agement practices that support server intervention, and the
nature of alcoholism and its treatment. These courses have
attracted considerable attention from individuals and groups
concerned with drinking and its harmful consequences. The
Presidential Task Force on Drunk Driving, Mothers Against
Drunk Driving (MADD), the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, and several state task forces on cirunk driving
have all recommended that aspects of these programs be in-
stituted more widely.
One of the most comprehensive and well studied of these
programs was conducted by the California ABC Department
from 1977 to 1980. At the beginning of the program, people
arrester! for drunk driving were askect where they had had their
last drink. When a certain drinking establishment was listed
three or more times, the ABC Department contacted the estab-
lishment and offered a server training program. Participation
was voluntary, and at first many licensees were suspicious. But
most did participate. By the end of the first year, during which
over 5,000 servers were trained, more requests were coming in
for training than the department could handle.
The city of Madison, Wisconsin, took a different approach
to ensuring that servers receive training in intervention tech-
niques. In 1981 it passed a law requiring that all commercial
servers of alcoholic beverages take an alcohol awareness train-
ing program before obtaining a license. The program set up to
meet this requirement covers four main topics: city and state
laws, the effects of alcohol and other drugs, alcoholism ant!
alcoholism treatment, and human relations and marketing. Lo-
cal police, alcohol-related programs, and tavern associations
have all supported the effort.
OCR for page 65
WHAT SERVERS CAN DO / 65
Another innovative server intervention program has arisen
In Amherst, Massachusetts. There lames Peters has used both
legal means and voluntary cooperation to reduce the number
of happy hours, institute citywide server training sessions, con-
tro! advertising, and encourage the cutting off of intoxicated
patrons. Largely because of his efforts, legislation has been
introduced at the state level to require training as a condition
of licensing.
Other server intervention programs have also been estab-
lished in the past few years. The University of Minnesota has
developed a community-based program in which licensees are
encouraged to sponsor training sessions for their employees.
The New York State Division of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse,
in cooperation with the New York State Restaurant Association,
has conducted seminars for commercial servers. MADD in Cal-
ifornia and the Health Education Foundation in Washington,
D.C., have also set up seminar series. "These programs rep-
resent a significant step in server intervention policy," con-
cludes Mosher. "They are practical efforts to incorporate
commercial alcohol establishments into a prevention effort."
Making Server Intervention More Effective
Bartender training programs are a valuable step forward, but
they are only one component of what could be a comprehensive
approach to server intervention. As with all prevention efforts,
the pursuit of a number of different strategies simultaneously
can have the greatest effect with the least restraint on personal
freedoms. In the area of server intervention, there are several
areas into which current programs could profitably expand,
including the drinking environment, management training, and
legal support.
With regard to the drinking environment, several key ques-
tions arise. What are the interior and exterior designs of a drink-
ing place? Where is the alcohol being served? And what kincis
of transportation facilities, either public or private, are available
for patrons?
The design of a drinking establishment can help or hinder a
responsible server. For instance, many bartender training pro-
OCR for page 66
66 / ALCOHOL IN ~ERICA
Bartenders are often particularly well situated to observe the drinking of their patrons
and to intervene when necessary.
grams emphasize that servers shouIcI make frequent, unob-
strusive observations of their patrons. Yet this may be impossible
in bars, taverns, or restaurants with certain physical layouts,
such as large, impersonal lounges or dance halls.
The design and characteristics of a drinking establishment
can also influence how often intervention is necessary. Studies
have shown that physical and social settings have an effect on
how much a person drinks. Drinkers take cues from the people
around them about how much and how fast they shouIc! drink.
Sometimes these influences moderate drinking, as is often the
case when one drinks at home in the company of family. At
other times these influences increase drinking, as can happen
when one is out on the town with friends.
By taking account of these less tangible influences on drink-
ing, servers can both lessen the need for intervention and make
intervention easier if the need does arise. According to Mosher,
"Such variables as crowcledness, noise, availability of nonal-
coholic beverages and food and of nondrinking activities that
OCR for page 67
WHAT SERVERS CAN DO / 67
promote sociability may substantially reduce the need for in-
terventions by bartenders ant! other employees."
Another important environmental factor involves the estab-
lishment's location. if a patron becomes inebriated, he or she
needs some way other than driving a private automobile to get
home. Some locales have recently begun offering free taxi, min-
ibus, or public transportation services during peak drinking
periods, like holiday weekends. Such efforts could be made
more often, especially for popular drinking spots or on special
drinking occasions. Alcohol outlets should at least have a way
of calling taxis for drunk patrons, and taxis must arrive quickly
if they are to be of much use.
Many of these changes in the drinking environment require
that managers be committed to intervention, a factor that past
training programs have sometimes overlooked. "There is a ten-
dency to focus merely on the front line—bartenders, cocktail
waitresses, and other employees actually in contact with the
establishment's customers," says Mosher. "An effective inter-
vention program, however, may require a number of reforms
in management practices, including such variables as the num-
ber of employees on the job, the number of patrons allowed
on the premises, the interior design, the commitment to alter-
native forms of transportation, the hours of operation, the use
of promotional techniques, etc."
Finally, past server intervention programs have made little
use of legal support. An exception to this rule is the program
in Madison, Wisconsin, which made training a prerequisite of
licensing. Other jurisdictions, whether at the state or local level,
could pass similar laws to guarantee that every server of al-
coholic beverages receives some measure of training.
The other legal incentive for server intervention programs is
the dramshop laws themselves. As mentioned, these laws have
usually proven to be too vague to persuade servers to change
their policies. Moreover, insurance companies have often short-
cut the intent of the laws by settling out of court on unjustified
claims. This can make the owner of a drinking establishment
reluctant to change house policies, since such changes do little
to protect against unjustified claims. Also, since establishments
often buy insurance to cover their liability, settlements help
OCR for page 68
68 / ALCOHOL IN AMERICA
transform dramshop laws into what Mosher calls "imperfect
victim-compensation mechanisms."
Interest has recently been building in ways to change these
laws to make them more effective. Some of this interest comes
from the servers themselves, who are being squeezed by the
high premiums charged for liability insurance (in California
these premiums went up 500 to 1,000 percent in the wake of
certain court cases that went against commercial servers). One
such change would involve broadening clramshop laws to in-
clude an assessment of the server's overall level of responsi-
bility. The liability of a server would then clepend on whether
the server had taken reasonable steps to protect other people
from harm. "For example," says Mosher, "a server who insti-
tutes a training program for employees, implements manage-
ment practices that encourage compliance, and is attentive to
environmental variables such as alternative transportation for
intoxicated patrons could be protected as a matter of law from
dramshop suits, assuming he or she can prove that the pro-
cedures were followed on a given occasion." Such changes in
the dramshop laws would be a strong inducement for partici-
pation in server intervention programs, especially if insurance
companies acknowledged that participation with lower liability
insurance rates.
Options for Businesses
Many drinking establishments and other businesses around
the country have supported server intervention programs, and
some have made prominent commitments to intervention tech-
niques. An example is the S & A Restaurant Corporation, which
owns about 300 restaurants nationwide. The corporation has
instituted a wide-rang~ng server intervention program. The key
to the program, according to the corporation's vice-president
and general course! Roger Thomson, is the sharing of respon-
sibility between the restaurant and its patrons:
We are spending a great deal of time, money, and effort to educate our
employees and our patrons on the sharing of responsibility....
Nationwide, we have posted notices in some of our restaurants to remind
our customers that they have a responsibility, and we will refuse to serve
OCR for page 69
WHAT SERVERS CAN DO / 69
them if we think they are not taking this responsibility. We also have blood
alcohol content charts posted in some restrooms and telephone booths. If we
think that somebody may be drinking too much, we may serve them protein-
and fat-rich foods that absorb alcohol more quickly. We may also place in
our new menus a nonalcoholic beverage section that receives top billing. We
have game areas that allow people to feel that they do not have to sit and
drink first to enjoy a meal, and we are initiating other diversions for people
who choose not to drink alcohol. Where we have been able to strike deals
with taxi companies, our restaurants have a hot line to the taxi company:
Just pick up the phone, which is a direct line, and we pay for the cab to take
home a patron who has had too much to drink.
To educate our staff, we invite the local police and the local alcohol councils
to speak to our employees frequently. In our newspaper, which goes to all
our restaurants, there is often an article on some aspect of alcohol. We help
our employees recognize the signs of intoxication and we give them support
to cut an intoxicated person off. On the community level, we funnel money
into various school systems to produce posters on responsibility and alcohol.
We work with Mothers Against Drunk Driving and other groups on various
local issues. We are trying to be responsible.
Programs such as that of the S & A Restaurant Corporation
are an encouraging development, as is the widespread attention
now being focused on this aDDroach. At the same time, much
a 1 1
more needs to be done before it will be possible to institute
server intervention programs widely. Many different groups
and organizations including ABC boards, insurance commis-
sions, law enforcement agencies, citizen groups, researchers,
educators, and legislators will have to coordinate their actions
to make these programs a success. According to Mosher, the
fecleral government must take a special part in this interplay
of initiatives. "The federal government," he says, "through the
National institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, needs to
take the leac! in this process, providing financial resources for
the necessary research and evaluation studies, offering tech-
nical assistance to interested groups, acting as an information
clearinghouse, and ensuring that duplication of effort is mini-
mized."
Representative terms from entire chapter:
intervention programs
