Category Archives: Guest Issues

by | August 12, 2012 · 7:05 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: California Hotel Sued By Nine Guests Claiming They Contracted Meningitis From Hotel Pool; Suit Seeks Damages For Premises Liability And Negligence

“…The plaintiffs claim the hotel failed to sanitize the pool, fill it with clean water, use purification chemicals or “obtain proper certification of health & safety codes to reopen pool and water park facilities after pool closure.”

They seek medical costs, damages and punitive damages for premises liability, negligence, gross negligence, public nuisance and loss of consortium.

Nine people claim they contracted meningitis and/or other deadly diseases two years ago from a pool at the Grand Pacific Palisades Resort in Carlsbad. Lead plaintiff Gerald Green claim that during their stay in August 2010 the hotel failed to properly sanitize its family swimming pool. Plaintiff claim that hotel staff told them later that “the pool had been closed due to prior fecal or other form of contamination.”

“Plaintiffs were caused to sustain severe personal injuries, including, but not limited to symptoms of fever, headache, myalgias [muscle pain], vomiting and diarrhea, resulting in diagnoses to include meningitis and aggravated multiple sclerosis,” the complaint states.
Meningitis is a potentially fatal disease caused by inflammation of the protective membranes of the brain and spinal cord. Multiple sclerosis, which causes damage to nerves in the brain and spinal cord, is a debilitating disease with no known cure.

For more:  http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/08/06/49015.htm

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by | August 11, 2012 · 7:24 am

Hospitality Industry Security Risks: Louisiana Hotels' Guest Rooms Burglarized By Thieves Who "Checked For Unlocked Doors"; Suspects Walked Out With Laptops And Electronics

“…(suspects were) walking in the hotel, walking out with the victim’s property…laptops, electronics, iPods, and iPads…cell phones, bags of clothing, jewelry…in some cases thieves got into rooms by checking for unlocked doors…”

After arresting two suspects in a string of downtown hotel burglaries, New Orleans Police confiscated loads of property. Police say rooms at several hotels in the downtown area were burglarized in early July. It was later determined to be the work of the same set of crooks.

“I noticed my door in my room even if I just walk out it doesn’t close,” one hotel guest said. Carroll says an anonymous tip from the public led detectives to arrest this modern day Bonnie and Clyde.

A search warrant executed at her home turned up loads of evidence.

For more:  http://www.abc26.com/news/local/wgno-property-stolen-from-hotels-returned,0,6918670.story

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by | August 3, 2012 · 6:21 am

Hospitality Industry Health Risks: Michigan Restaurant Closes Down After Confirmed "Norovirus" Outbreak Sickens Over 200 Customers

“…customers reported symptoms of vomiting, nausea, cramps, and diarrhea. More than 200 individuals have come forward with symptoms since last week. Nearly all patients recovered within a day, but one individual was hospitalized for dehydration…”

An outbreak of foodborne illness at a Mexican restaurant in Holland, MI was confirmed to be norovirus, the Ottawa County Health Department reported on Tuesday. Officials are no longer seeking any reports of illness on this case. However, Susan Felgner, representative to the health department, noted, “[t]he overwhelming public response was critical…to the investigation.”

The owners of Margarita’s Mexican Restaurant have voluntarily closed its doors and have not announced when it will re-open.

Norovirus is a highly contagious disease transmitted through contaminated food and water or contact with infected surfaces. The virus causes gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach, and leads to symptoms such as stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea, and fever.

For more:  http://www.healthmap.org/news/norovirus-outbreak-hits-restaurant-michigan-8212

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by | July 29, 2012 · 8:01 am

Hospitality Industry Crime Risks: Pennsylvania Hotel Evacuated After "Meth Lab" Chemicals And Materials Discovered In Third-Floor Room

“…Hotels and motels are increasingly used by meth-makers because the chemicals used – which can include lighter fuel, lye, lithium, and acetone, among other dangerous substances – seep into fabrics, furniture, and floors, according the Department of Justice website…” 

“You basically destroy someone’s hotel room, and then you leave.”

At least 300 guests were evacuated from the Hampton Inn at 1301 Race St. about 5:30 a.m. as first Philadelphia firefighters, then the Police Department’s homeland security and terrorism unit arrived to handle the volatile chemicals left behind by a would-be meth-maker.

Investigators discovered in a third-floor room the chemicals and materials used in the “one-pot” or “shake-and-bake” method of producing the dangerous, highly addictive stimulant.

The procedure can result in toxic fumes and explosions, leave behind a dangerous trail of chemicals, and render the room uninhabitable.

For more:  http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pennsylvania/20120729_Makeshift_meth_lab_forces_evacuation_of_Center_City_hotel.html

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by | July 28, 2012 · 7:25 am

Hospitality Industry Alcohol Risks: Mississippi Casino Resort And Spa Sued For $75 Million By Family Of Man Who Died After Consuming "Free Drinks"

The suit claims casino workers kept serving free drinks to 30-year-old Bryan Lee Glenn in August 2009, ignoring pleas from the drunken man’s family to stop serving him. 

A lawsuit claims a Mississippi casino served so much alcohol to a man taking powerful prescription painkillers that he died on the floor of his hotel bathroom. The lawsuit against IP Casino Resort and Spa in Biloxi was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Gulfport. It seeks damages of $75 million.

The suit says Glenn died in his hotel room. He’d taken prescribed painkillers including Percocet, morphine and Xanax, as well as antipsychotic medications in the three weeks before his death, the lawsuit says. He was being treated for physical injuries as well as psychosis and hallucinations. Glenn had suffered a traumatic brain injury in a 2004 four-wheeler accident, then suffered back injuries in a 2007 car wreck.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/27/2915715/75m-lawsuit-claims-casino-let.html#storylink=cpy

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by | July 26, 2012 · 8:15 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Chicago Hotel And Restaurant Sued For $500,000 In Wrongful Death Lawsuit

“…The 10-count lawsuit, which seeks more than $500,000 in compensation for Duskey’s wrongful death, names Hilton Worldwide, the Palmer House Hilton, Surreal Chicago and Adrenaline Y2K as the party hosts…Megan Duskey fell four floors to her death after she tried to slide down a railing at the Palmer House Hilton…”

The parents of a former Crete woman who fell to her death at a “Haunted Hotel Ball” at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago in 2010 are suing the hotel and the event hosts. James and Deborah Duskey claim in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court that the death of their daughter Megan at the Halloween-themed ball was due to the negligence of the hotel and the event companies who hosted the party.

The lawsuit claims the hotel and event hosts allowed people at the ball to “consume unlimited amounts of alcoholic beverages” after they paid for a ticket and failed to provide security to protect the patrons of the ball.

For more:  http://southtownstar.suntimes.com/news/13998052-418/lawsuit-former-crete-womans-fatal-fall-due-to-negligence.html

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by | July 25, 2012 · 6:45 am

Hospitality Industry Safety Risks: Illinois Hotel Sued For Negligence By Man In "Slip And Fall" Accident; Claims Permanent Injuries

“…(hotel  is accused) of negligence for allegedly failing to keep the hotel lobby floor clean and dry. He says he has suffered — and will continue to suffer — physical and mental pain and anguish. Cattani is asking for an undetermined amount of money for medical expenses and lost income in addition to court costs…”

A Collinsville man claims the “carelessness” of owners and managers of a local hotel led him to slip and fall in the lobby. Bobby Cattani filed a lawsuit July 10 in Madison County Circuit Court against Lodging Hospitality Management, doing business as Doubletree Hotel. Hotel owner, Colhot LLC, is also named as a defendant.

Just after 11 p.m. on Aug. 2, 2010, Cattani says he slipped and fell on a “liquid substance that had accumulated on the floor” of the Doubletree Hotel on Eastport Plaza Drive. He says he severely and permanently injured numerous parts of his body along with his nervous system.

For more:  http://www.madisonrecord.com/news/245567-doubletree-hotel-in-collinsville-sued-over-mans-lobby-slip-and-fall

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by | July 24, 2012 · 6:10 am

Hospitality Industry Security Risks: Electronic Hotel Room Locks Shown To Be Vulnerable To "Hardware Gadgets"

The system’s vulnerability arises, Brocious says, from the fact that every lock’s memory is entirely exposed to whatever device attempts to read it through that port. Though each lock has a cryptographic key that’s required to trigger its “open” mechanism, that string of data is also stored in the lock’s memory, like a spare key hidden under the welcome mat.

At the Black Hat security conference Tuesday evening, a Mozilla software developer and 24-year old security researcher named Cody Brocious plans to present a pair of vulnerabilities he’s discovered in hotel room locks from the manufacturer Onity, whose devices are installed on the doors of between four and five million hotel rooms around the world according to the company’s figures. Using an open-source hardware gadget Brocious built for less than $50, he can insert a plug into that DC port and sometimes, albeit unreliably, open the lock in a matter of seconds. “I plug it in, power it up, and the lock opens,” he says simply.

The ability to access the devices’ memory is just one of the two vulnerabilities Brocious says he found in Onity’s locks. He says the company also uses a weak encryption scheme that allows him to derive the “site code”–a unique numerical key for every facility–from two cards encoded one after another for the same room. By reading the encrypted data off of two cards and testing thousands of potential site codes against both cards until the decoded data displays a predictable interval between the two, he can find the site code and use it to create more card keys with a magnetizing device. But given that he can only create more cards for the same room as the two keys he’s been issued, that security flaw represents a fairly low risk compared with the ability to open any door arbitrarily.

For more:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/07/23/hacker-will-expose-potential-security-flaw-in-more-than-four-million-hotel-room-keycard-locks/

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by | July 23, 2012 · 6:08 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: California Hotel Sued For Discrimination Under "Unruh Civil Rights Act" For Prohibiting Charitable Event

Alleging that they were the victims of discrimination, Ryan, the grandson of Holocaust survivors, and 17 other individuals later filed suit against Adaya and the hotel under California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, which says no business establishment may discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color or religion. In addition to Adaya, the suit names Indus Investments Inc., the corporate owner and operator of the hotel.

Ari Ryan and other young leaders of the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces gathered on the afternoon of July 11, 2010, at the Hotel Shangri-La in Santa Monica for a charitable event. Soon after the party got underway around the hotel’s pool, apologetic hotel staff and security guards began telling group members to remove their literature and banners, to get out of the pool and hot tub, and to stop handing out T-shirts, according to Ryan and court documents.

The employees were acting on the orders of hotel owner Tehmina Adaya, according to the statements of witnesses and hotel employees in court documents. Adaya is a Muslim woman of Pakistani descent.

In court documents, Adaya said the July event had not been scheduled with the hotel and that the participants were trespassing on hotel property. Philip E. Black, an attorney for Adaya, declined to comment.

A jury trial is slated to begin Monday in Santa Monica Superior Court. The plaintiffs are seeking more than $1 million in damages.

According to the lawsuit, the charitable event was for the Legacy Program, a branch of the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces that raises funds to send children of fallen Israeli soldiers to summer camp. The party was planned by Platinum Events, a marketing firm that had organized other gatherings at the Shangri-La after the property underwent a $30-million renovation and reopened in mid-2009, the complaint said.

For more:  http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-shangri-la-lawsuit-20120723,0,868164.story

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by | July 19, 2012 · 6:13 am

Hospitality Industry Parking Risks: Kentucky Hotel Guest's Auto Stolen By Man Posing As A Valet

“…(suspect) was posing as a valet at the Seelbach Hilton Hotel on June 29. After helping the owner of the vehicle into the hotel with their luggage, Gibbs then drove away with the $25,000 SUV…”

A Louisville man has been charged with theft after he pretended to be a hotel valet and stole a SUV. A short time later, the vehicle’s owner said someone told them the person who drove off in the SUV was not a hotel employee.

Police identified Gibbs as the suspect after looking at hotel security footage and said he later confessed to the crime. The vehicle was recovered that same day parked in front of Gibbs apartment.

Gibbs is charged with theft by unlawful taking of an auto over $10,000.

In a statement to WAVE 3, Jon McFarland, general manager of the Seelbach Hilton, said, “The Seelbach has not had a prior incident like this. We are aggressively looking at how it happened, and preventing it from happening again.”

For more:  http://www.wave3.com/story/19054310/police-fake-valet-steals-suv

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