Monthly Archives: November 2011

Hospitality Industry Security Risks: Las Vegas Hotel Housekeeper "Sexually Assaulted" In Hotel Room; Security And Surveillance Measures Had Been Cut And Scaled Back In Recent Years

“…In the 1990s and early 2000s, the hotel used to provide for a security guard at the employee parking lot. That position has been cut, the co-worker said…”

“…The number of security guards assigned to walk guest floors to monitor safety also has been scaled back over the years, said the employee, who suggested there should be at least one security guard at guest elevators to check identifications…”

A Las Vegas man accused of beating and raping a 65-year-old Strip hotel maid last week kept clothing in his home that may have been bloodied in the attack, police said.

According to his Las Vegas police arrest report, David Randell Ferren, 19, kept a bloody jacket, belt and condoms that may have been worn during the assault of a Bally’s hotel maid on the morning of Nov. 1.

The report alleges Ferren punched the maid in the face as she was entering a room on the 59th floor of Bally’s about 9:30 a.m. Security footage showed Ferren exiting an elevator on that floor shortly before the attack, police said.

In the arrest report, police said Ferren forced the maid into the room and raped her. The assault was interrupted after the occupant of the room entered. That woman told detectives she saw a naked man getting dressed as the maid fled the room, the report said.

Another maid saw the man using an emergency exit , the report said.

For more:  http://www.lvrj.com/news/suspect-in-strip-rape-kept-bloody-clothing-police-say-133403473.html

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Hospitality Industry Liability Risks: Colorado Supreme Court Upholds $10 Million Award To Truck Driver Who "Slipped And Fell On Ice And Grease"

 “…A truck driver who slipped and fell on ice and grease while making a delivery to a Wal-Mart store in northern Colorado can collect a nearly $10 million award after the state Supreme Court upheld a jury verdict in the case on Monday…”

The driver, 41-year-old Holly Averyt of Cheyenne, Wyo., had to undergo three spine surgeries, was unable to return to work and lost her truck. Her lawyers presented city documents during the original trial that showed some grease from the store’s deli didn’t get trapped in a device designed to keep it from getting into the sewer.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., told jurors there had been no grease spill at the store in Greeley.

A jury awarded $15 million to Averyt in November 2010. Wal-Mart appealed and a lower court granted the company a new trial, saying the award was “excessive, not supported by the evidence and could only be the result of prejudice and bias and the jury’s desire to punish Wal-Mart.”

For more:  http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57320005/wal-mart-to-pay-trucker-$10m-for-greasy-ice-fall/

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Hospitality Industry Security Risks: California Hotel Front Desk Clerk Subdues Armed Robber With Help From Guests (Video)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRxmLBNgSiM&feature=player_embedded]

An armed robber got more than he bargained for after being tackled by two cage fighters who just happened to be staying at the hotel he was trying to hold-up. Gun-toting Luis Rosales definitely made the wrong move when he walked into the Comfort Inn hotel in LA’s Koreatown, pointed a gun at the clerk and demanded he fill a bag full of cash.

After handing over money from the till, the clerk noticed Rosales place the weapon in the bag along with the cash. He followed him out of the office, grabbed him from behind and screamed for help.

As Rosales, 31, struggled to break free the two fighters leapt into action with Denney grabbing the robber in a hold while Alvarez seized the gun. They then put him on the ground with a leg sweep and held him until police arrived.

Denney, 28, told the LA Times: ‘The manager eye-balled us and immediately started running after this guy saying “He’s got a gun, he’s got a gun, he’s got a gun, he just robbed me”.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2058483/Luis-Rosales-Armed-hotel-robber-meets-match-2-cage-fighters-video.html#ixzz1d1uJi0nU

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Hospitality Industry Information Security: New York Hotel Employee Charged With "Stealing 237 Guest Credit Card Accounts" Totaling Over $800,000 In Fraudulent Purchases

“…A New York City hotel chain auditor has been charged with stealing hundreds of guests’ credit card information and selling it to a man accused of using it to buy $840,000 worth of airline tickets and other items…”

Lukasz Kruk and Barry Herndon pleaded not guilty to grand larceny, identity theft and other charges Friday. The Manhattan district attorney’s office says 237 accounts were compromised over three years.

Prosecutors say Kruk was an auditor for the Amsterdam Hospitality Group and had access to guests’ credit card data. They say Herndon bought tickets for himself and other people with information Kruk took.

Amsterdam Hospitality Group runs eight boutique hotels in New York City, Asbury Park, N.J., and Charlotte, N.C. Its representatives haven’t responded to a request for comment.

For more:  http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9QQ75581.htm

 

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Hospitality Industry Guest Security: Pennsylvania Hotel Sued By Woman Attacked In Elevator For "Negligence In Failing To Provide Adequate Security"

“…The woman and her husband, of East Pittsburgh, filed the 17-page lawsuit in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court against Hyatt Hotels Corp., alleging the Findlay hotel was negligent for failing to provide adequate security that led to the Jan. 31 attack…”

A newlywed who was stabbed inside a Hyatt Regency Pittsburgh International Airport hotel elevator during what police said was an attempted sexual assault sued the hotel’s parent company on Tuesday.

Michael Furman, 28, of Weirton, W.Va., is awaiting trial. The lawsuit states that Furman rode in the elevator with her, then put his hand over her mouth and pushed her against a wall. The woman fought back, freed herself and ran to her room when the elevator doors opened, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit states that hotel employees took five to 10 minutes to get to her room after she hit the emergency button on the phone.

Read more: Victim of attack takes Findlay hotel to court – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_765081.html#ixzz1chKZ4nod

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Hospitality Industry Guest Satisfaction: Washington DC Hotel's "Women Only" Floor Offers "Safety, Convenience And Comfort" To Female Guests (Video)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_-zWMA6JsQ]

Women seek safety, convenience and comfort when they travel. A D.C. hotel offers a “women only” floor along with other amenities targeting the growing sector of women travelers.

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Hospitality Industry Security Risks: Department Of Homeland Security (DHS) To Present 15-Second TV Announcement On In-Room Hotel Channels Urging Guests To Be "Vigilant" In Fight Against Terrorism

“…Starting today, the welcome screens on 1.2 million hotel television sets in Marriott, Hilton, Sheraton, Holiday Inn and other hotels in the USA will show a short public service announcement from DHS (Department of Homeland Security). The 15-second spot encourages viewers to be vigilant and call law enforcement if they witness something suspicious during their travels…”

During the PSA, which starts with a woman exiting a yellow taxi in front of a train station, a narrator says, “Maybe you see something suspicious. Can you be sure? If you see something, say something to authorities.”

The PSA, which will be interspersed with other messages on the welcome screen, will be the same in all 5,400 hotels that LodgeNet serves. It ends by telling viewers to contact “local authorities.”

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says that reaching the “millions of guests that stay at hotels and motels each year is a significant step in engaging the full range of partners in our Homeland Security efforts.”

The federal government gained access to hotel TV sets by forming a partnership with the hotel industry’s largest association — the American Hotel & Lodging Association — which connected DHS with LodgeNet, the industry’s largest TV-content provider.

By entering hotels at a time when the hospitality industry is on the rebound, the government has the power to tap a growing, captive audience. Recent research from LodgeNet says 98% of hotel guests turn on their hotel TV, and the average guest keeps it on for more than three hours per day.

For more:  http://travel.usatoday.com/hotels/story/2011-11-02/Hotel-guests-recruited-with-Homeland-Security-TV-spots/51032602/1

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Hospitality Industry Employee Risks: Hotel Management Company Files Suit Against Two Former Employees And Employer Claiming "Theft Of Confidential Documents"

 “…Hersha Hospitality Management LP has filed suit against two former employees and their new employer, claiming the former employees allegedly could have stole thousands of confidential documents before leaving to take their new jobs…”

 In a 17 October filing in U.S. District Court, Hersha said the employees engaged in a “web of deception” in their final days at Hersha before leaving for positions at The Procaccianti Group, a private real-estate investment company. Before leaving, Hersha said in the filing, the two recruited two other key Hersha employees to also leave. The two denied recruiting the other executives, Hersha said in the filing.

By way of a computer forensic examination, Hersha also found the two former employees potentially stole “thousands” of sensitive computer files. “(Hersha) is now faced with the real possibility that its direct competitor, TPG, could have access to its most important competitive secrets and strategies,” Hersha officials wrote in the filing. “Upon information and belief, TPG encouraged this conduct by offering the former (Hersha) employees substantial raises in a blatant effort to harm (Hersha) by raiding its top managers and by inducing them to commit wrongs.”

 

A call to TPG president and CEO James A. Procaccianti was returned by the company’s director of communications Ralph Izzi, who said it is TPG’s policy to not comment on pending litigation. A Message left by HotelNewsNow.com with Hersha president and CEO Naveen P. Kakarla was not returned by deadline Friday.

 

For more:  http://www.hospitalitynet.org/external/4053560.html

 

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