Monthly Archives: January 2013

by | January 11, 2013 · 10:34 am

P3 Hospitality Industry Risk Report: “ADA Pool Lift Update” Presented By Loss Control Specialist Marco Johnson Of Petra Risk Solutions (Video)

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/57192729 w=500&h=281]

The January 31, 2013 ADA pool lift compliance deadline is fast approaching. Petra Risk Solutions’ Loss Control Specialist,  Marco Johnson, offers a P3 Hospitality Risk Update – ‘ADA Pool Lift Update’ – to help clear up some of the confusion about the requirements of this new ADA law.

P3 (Petra Plus Process) is the Risk Management Division of Petra Risk Solutions – America’s largest independent insurance brokerage devoted exclusively to the hospitality marketplace.

For more information on Petra and P3 visit petrarisksolutions.com or call 800.466.8951.

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by | January 10, 2013 · 9:29 am

Hospitality Industry Property Risks: Pennsylvania Hotel “Fire Alarm System” Fails During Basement Fire; Over 70 Guests Evacuated After Electrical Panel Circuit Found “Dead”

“…the hotel had a small fire in its basement over the weekend, and the fire alarms did not go off…(it was) found that the hotel’s electrical panel that controls the fire alarms was dead and the alarms didn’t work…the fire alarms for hotelshotel’s general manager said they had to evacuate more than 70 guests Tuesday, and they’ve been working since then to replace the fire alarm system..”

A hotel in a Scranton shut down Tuesday night because of a problem with its fire alarm system. It turns out, that hotel may have been without fire protection for weeks, maybe even months.

Scranton firefighters received a tip call from a former employee of the Clarion Hotel in Scranton. That call unraveled what could have been a big problem for the hotel and city officials.

The city’s director of inspections and permits, Mark Seitzinger went with firefighters to check out the tip calls claim.

“It’s dangerous, as of the other day they had 75 occupants or patrons of the building, that’s 75 people not including employees that are at risk because there’s no fire system,” said Seitzinger.

On the city’s advice, hotel managers made the call to evacuate all of those 75 guests and sent them to nearby hotels. Among the displaced were realtors who were supposed to have a certification class at the Clarion, but they had to change their plans and move to another venue in Clarks Summit.

For more:  http://wnep.com/2013/01/09/hotel-replaces-faulty-fire-alarms-following-small-fire/

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by | January 9, 2013 · 7:34 am

Hospitality Industry Employment Risks: Maryland Restaurant Settles EEOC “Disability Discrimination And Retaliation Lawsuit” For $47,000; Deaf Prep Cook Was Harassed And Mocked

“…(the plaintiff) was harassed by a former management official because of his disability, through mockery (e.g. being called “vermin” instead of “Vernon”), and through threatening physical conduct…(his) prep cook EEOCduties were removed and that he was transferred to a dishwasher position because of his disability….In addition to the $47,814 in monetary relief to Davis, the two-year consent decree resolving the lawsuit enjoins McCormick and Schmick’s from violating the ADA, including with regard to harassment and retaliation…”

McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant, Inc. will pay $47,814 and provide other relief to settle a disability discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s suit, Vernon Davis, who has been deaf since childhood and uses American Sign Language and reads lips to communicate, satisfactorily performed his duties as a prep cook at the McCormick & Schmick’s National Harbor restaurant in Oxon Hill, Md. Prior to being hired by the defendant, Davis had obtained culinary training and had worked in several other restaurants.

After Davis and others complained about Davis being subjected to disability discrimination, the restaurant demoted him to a janitorial-type position and cut his hours because of his disability and in retaliation for the complaints, the EEOC charged. Four months later, McCormick and Schmick’s unlawfully fired Davis because of his disability and in retaliation for his complaints, the EEOC alleged in its lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Southern Division, Civil Action No. 8:11-cv-02695.

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by | January 8, 2013 · 8:42 am

Hospitality Industry Security Risks: Illinois Hotel And Restaurant Sued For “Negligence” After Guest Attacked By Man With Knife In Restroom; “Allowed Unauthorized Access To Property”

“…The lawsuit claims the hotel and restaurant at 909 N. Michigan Avenue were negligent when they allowed Restaurant Crime“unauthorized persons to gain access to their hotel, restaurant and restroom facilities” and didn’t perform proper security checks…”

An Oak Brook doctor who was stabbed in the neck and face during an attempted holdup at a Gold Coast restaurant in November is suing his alleged attacker along with the restaurant and hotel that houses it. Mir Shah says he was violently attacked and stabbed several times by Jimmy Harris in the bathroom of the Westin’s The Grill on the Alley on Nov. 17, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Cook County Circuit Court. The restaurant’s bartender was also injured when he chased Harris, who cut him with a knife, police said.

Harris, who also goes by the name Jimmie Harris, had been freed from prison eight days prior to the attack. He has at least 60 arrests and nine felony convictions dating to the late 1970s, according to Chicago police, state and court records.

Shah, an oncologist, was out to dinner with his family that night after attending the Lights Festival along the Magnificent Mile. While in the bathroom, Harris approached Shah and announced a robbery before stabbing the doctor in the right side of his neck and face, prosecutors said. Shah is now disfigured and disabled, according to the suit.

For more:  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-doctor-stabbed-after-mag-mile-lights-festival-sues-suspect-20130107,0,4498714.story

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by | January 7, 2013 · 7:46 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Hotel “Mobile Applications” Must “Post Privacy Policy” Allowing Guests To “Access And/Or Request Changes To Personal Information”

“…In the case of an online service, “conspicuously posting” a privacy policy requires that the policy be “reasonably accessible…for consumers of the online service…the consumer (must be able) to access or request mobile technologychanges to personal information, (and) the operator of the site will notify consumers of changes, and the effective date of the policy..”

Hotel companies are actively entering the mobile application space as a means of gaining market share and solidifying guest relations. In addition to online travel agents like HotelsbyMe.com, a number of brands including Omni, Choice and Starwood have developed mobile applications. However, as mobile applications gain popularity, hotel companies should consider how privacy and security laws will impact how they can use those applications.

For companies with operations in California, that issue was highlighted on December 6, 2012, when the California Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Delta Airlines for failing to include a privacy policy with a smartphone application. The lawsuit, the first of its kind, alleges that Delta violated California law requiring online services to “conspicuously post its privacy policy” by failing to include such a policy with its “Fly Delta” mobile application.

The California online privacy law

In 2004, California enacted the California Online Privacy Protection Act (“CalOPPA”). This law requires operators of websites and online services to “conspicuously post” privacy policies about the personal information that is collected, how the consumer can access or request changes to personal information, how the operator of the site will notify consumers of changes, and the effective date of the policy.

In the case of an online service, “conspicuously posting” a privacy policy requires that the policy be “reasonably accessible…for consumers of the online service.”

CalOPPA does not define an “online service” or mention “mobile” or “smartphone” applications, likely due to the fact that in 2004, smartphones and mobile applications were just being developed. However, the California Attorney General considers any service available over the internet or that connects to the internet, including mobile apps, to be an “online service.”
For more:  http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article68597Hotel_Lawyer_on_How_New_Privacy_Law_Enforcement_May_Affect_Your_Mobile_Apps_Used_in_Marketing_.html

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by | January 6, 2013 · 7:06 am

Hospitality Industry Property Risks: Louisiana Hotel Laundry Room Fire Causes “Heavy Water Damage” And Forces Evacuation Of Entire Building

“…The fire was found to have originated in a laundry room on the fourth floor of the hotel. The third and fourth floors sustained heavy water damage, as the sprinkler system helped to squelch the blaze…(additional Hotel fire and smoke damagefirefighters were needed) to assist with getting materials that were burned and water-damaged out of the building…”

A Saturday night fire at the CBD’s Hotel Intercontinental (444 St. Charles Ave.) damaged the middle floors of the 14-story structure, and moved guests to a nearby ballroom, according to the New Orleans Fire Department.

Firefighters went door-to-door at the 410 rooms to ensure that all guests evacuated the building. Initially, the fire was at two alarms, but the third and fourth alarms were struck to provide more manpower. A total of 31 trucks and 98 NOFD personnel were at the scene.

The fire was largely contained to the area where the fire originated, but smoke damage was reported on the floors above the fourth.

The fire was under control by 7:30 p.m. The only reports of injury in the blaze were from a guest who told authorities they were having trouble breathing. The guest refused medical assistance. The displaced guests were relocated to the second-floor ballroom in the Hilton New Orleans, which is located across St. Charles Ave.

For more:  http://noladefender.com/content/four-ala76rm-fire-dam98ages-st-charles-ave-hotel

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by | January 5, 2013 · 7:45 am

Hospitality Industry Crime Risks: Washington Hotel Room Used By “Major Identity Theft And Forgery Ring”; Police Seize Laptops, Lamination Machine And Bags Of Stolen Mail

“These labs tend to be mobile…they go from hotel to hotel…the room contained a computer, two laptops, laminating paper, card stock, check stock and a hot laminator machine along with identification, checks and identity theftbags of mail that had been stolen. Also seized were more than 100 licenses and other IDs, roughly 20 hard drives and numerous other media storage devices, such as thumb drives and memory chips.

Police and U.S. Secret Service agents believe they have taken down a major identity theft and forgery ring involving at least a dozen suspects and more than 100 victims. The number of victims could grow as experts analyze computer hard drives and video surveillance footage from businesses where the suspects tried to get money. As of Friday evening, authorities estimated more than $45,000 had been stolen, but said that amount is likely to grow.

Evidence is being examined at the Secret Service’s Electronic Crimes Task Force lab in Seattle. Many of the victims — both individuals and businesses — are from Everett, but the center for the operation was traced to a hotel room in Shoreline.

That’s where police and the Secret Service found what amounted to a ID-theft factory Thursday.

For more:  http://heraldnet.com/article/20130105/NEWS01/701059947

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by | January 4, 2013 · 8:02 am

Hospitality Industry Theft Risks: Chicago Restaurant Guests Warned About Thieves Targeting Cell Phones

“…The thieves put a flyer on top of the customers’ cell phones. The men pick up the flyer and the cell phone as Cell Phone Theft (2)they leave. They know they can turn these cell phones over to a pawn shop and get a couple hundred bucks.”

Chicago police are warning people about a cell phone theft ring that is hitting downtown restaurants. Customers at restaurants on Michigan, Fairbanks, Wabash and Ontario have been robbed in the last four days.

Police say a group of young men approach diners to say that they are raising money for a basketball team. “I was eating by myself tonight and scrolling on the phone and didn’t even think that someone might come and swipe it,” diner Todd Ganz said.

The team of thieves is operating in three different areas, police say: in the 400-block of East Ontario, the 600-block of North Fairbanks, and in the Loop along Michigan Avenue and the 100-block of North Wabash.

For more:  http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=8941275

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by | January 3, 2013 · 8:02 am

Hospitality Industry Theft Risks: California Hotel Guest Arrested For Using Stolen Credit Card To Pay For Room; Used Laptop On Open Wi-Fi Network To Steal Account Information

“…(suspect) allegedly rented a room at the Montage by using a stolen credit card. The fraud went undiscovered for two days while Larson accrued a $2,134 tab, but he disappeared from the resort prior to the arrival of cyber securitypolice…he used a laptop to collect credit card information from people making purchases or checking their accounts…”

An admitted identity thief, apparently expert at stealing credit card account information over open wi-fi networks, was arrested last week after skipping out on a $2,134 bill at Montage Laguna Beach, police said. Police tracked Harold Eric Larson, 37, to his hometown of Orange and arrested him on Thursday, Dec. 27, on several theft related charges, Capt. Jason Kravetz said in a statement. He is accused of using stolen credit card numbers to rent hotel rooms to for himself and friends in Laguna Beach, Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, Kravetz said.

Coincidentally, on Dec. 26 police received a complaint about guests using drugs in a room at Laguna Cliffs Inn and arrested Edward Richard York, 40, of Tustin, allegedly for possessing methamphetamine and marijuana, Sgt. Louise Callus said. Officers learned the room was rented with a stolen credit card number provided by Larson, said Kravetz.

Larson was previously arrested by Laguna police last April on 23 felony counts of fraud and theft after he was caught using stolen credit card information to rent hotel rooms.  He pled guilty to the charges and was sentenced to three years probation, one year in jail and restitution.

For more:  http://www.lagunabeachindependent.com/2013/01/02/identity-thief-held-hotel-scam/

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by | January 2, 2013 · 8:35 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: California Hotel Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over “Fixed Percentage Withholdings” From Room Service Tips; Violation Of California Labor Law

“…(plaintiff) claims the hotel pools the tips of its room service delivery staff and withholds a fixed percentage of them…the withholdings, which have been standard policy since at least 2003, violate California labor Hospitality Industry Class Action Lawsuitslaw…he seeks compensatory and exemplary damages for unfair competition, conversion and money had and received…”

Hyatt Hotels and the Manchester Financial Group steal workers’ tips to cover “glass breakage,” whether employees have broken any glasses or not, a class action claims in Superior Court. Former room service delivery worker Leonardo Acosta sued Host Hotels and Resorts, Manchester Financial Group and Hyatt Hotels Corp.

“Hyatt and the other defendants maintain that the monies are withheld pursuant to Hyatt’s policy of reimbursing themselves for purported ‘glass breakage.’ The same percentage of gratuities was withheld from all room service delivery workers in plaintiffs’ tip pool, without regard to the amount of breakage, if any, during any pay period.

The same percentage of gratuities was withheld from all room service delivery workers in plaintiffs’ tip pool, without regard to whether any purported breakage was caused by any dishonest or willful act, or by the gross negligence of any employee … [and] without regard to the individual, if any, responsible for the alleged breakage,” Acosta claims.

For more:  http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/01/02/53536.htm

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