MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A new law starting Jan. 1 of next year will soon force Tennessee servers and bartenders to get more training before they can serve a customer's favorite cocktail.
This state law is aimed at spotting warning signs among customers and co-workers who might need help.
State lawmakers learned about several cases that caused them concern ranging from sexual abuse to human trafficking. During the General Assembly this year, they passed a law to create a safe space where both staff and customers felt safe.
Aaron Rummage with the Tennessee Alcohol Beverage Commission said tourism dollars accounted for more than 30 billion dollars last year. Part of those funds came from the food and beverage industry, which includes bars and restaurants when alcohol is in the mix.
Rummage said this new law will help servers to spot the signs of sexual assault, harassment, human trafficking and report it.
"This is really addressing a couple of cases where some individuals were drugged and then taken advantage of. I think there was even a rape involved," Rummage said. "So these were actually patrons who were perpetrating the crime."
This statewide effort isn't the first time the hospitality has created measures to recognize abuse and trafficking. Airlines and hotels began employee trainings several years ago to help curb with the same concerns.
A new training program could bring added responsibility for restaurant and bar management.
Rummage said they have rough 133,000 alcoholic beverage servers and 30 trainers across the state.
"It doesn't create any new penalties for the bars, it's really placing some more tools in the server's toolbox in order to have a little more courage to maybe step forward if they see something that's wrong," he said.
Tony Westmoreland with Tandem Restaurant Partners owns multiple restaurants and bars in Memphis. He said this law does present a new challenge keeping up with each server's two-year license after they complete this new training.
"It's difficult to keep up with that on a five-year basis, but we do have files on staff; we keep that on hand in case the TNABC comes in and they can see the cards of the servers that are on staff," Westmoreland said.
Westmoreland said despite the new task restaurant management and owners will have, keeping staff and employees safe is the top priority.
"We don't tolerate harassment for our employees or staff at all. We follow up with the police department if we need to," he said.
According to a Memphis Police Department crime dashboard, in July 2023, there were 443 sexual assault incidents compared to July 2024, when there were 412 incidents.
Westmoreland said they've had incidents of harassment from a customer to a staff member. He said they simply explained to that individual it's not tolerated. Westmoreland also said if the issue with that patron persisted, that individual would be escorted out and banned from the bar.