Category Archives: Liability

by | November 10, 2011 · 6:44 am

Hospitality Industry Internet Risks: Connecticut Hotel Employees Assist Authorities In Arrest And Conviction Of Man For "Child Pornography" While Using Hotel Internet

Employees at the Marriott Hotel in Hartford, Conn., took action over the summer when they spotted a man trying to access a pornographic website in their hotel, the Hartford Courant reports.

They banned the man from the hotel, and then alerted authorities, leading to an investigation by agencies including the Hartford Police, FBI and the Connecticut Computer Crimes Task Force.

That investigation on Tuesday led to a guilty plea from the suspect who had been using Internet services almost daily at a variety of places including the hotel’s Starbucks Café and the nearby library, the article says.

He had previously been convicted of attempted child molestation, according to the FBI.

William Scott Van Wyk, 35, pleaded guilty in Hartford before U.S. District Judge Christopher Droney to a child pornography charge and one count of using the Internet to try to persuade a minor to engage in sexual activity, the story says.

He faces at least 15 years in prison, although he may receive a longer sentence due to his record.

For more:  http://travel.usatoday.com/hotels/post/2011/11/hotel-takes-action-when-man-spotted-child-porn-guilty-plea/562998/1?csp=34travel&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UsatodaycomTravel-TopStories+%28Travel+-+Top+Stories%29

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by | November 8, 2011 · 7:39 am

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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by | November 7, 2011 · 6:46 am

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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by | November 5, 2011 · 5:20 am

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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by | November 4, 2011 · 2:04 am

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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by | November 3, 2011 · 5:28 am

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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by | November 1, 2011 · 4:53 am

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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by | October 30, 2011 · 6:47 am

Hospitality Industry Fire Risks: California Hotel "Electrical Fire" Causes Hundreds Of Guest To Be Evacuated As Two Floors Fill With Smoke

 “…Firefighters scoured the hotel to ensure all guests and hotel personnel were evacuated. Another group of firefighters tried to determine the source of the fire, and a third group worked on freeing the pair trapped in the elevator….”

Firefighters evacuated several hundred guests at a 15-floor Hyatt Regency after two of the hotel’s floors began filling with smoke after an electrical fire, officials said. The incident was reported at 5 p.m., and seven engines, two ladder trucks and a battalion chief from Orange County Fire Authority responded to the hotel at 17900 Jamboree Road.

A man and woman were trapped in an elevator between the second and third floors, Orange County Fire Capt. Marc Stone said. They were freed at 6 p.m. According to Stone, fire personnel were attempting to locate the source of the fire. Smoke filled the second and third floors of the hotel, he said.

It was unclear whether the electrical fire melted down some equipment or if the equipment overheated to cause the fire, Stone said.

For more:  http://www.ocregister.com/news/fire-324481-hotel-smoke.html

 

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by | October 29, 2011 · 9:26 am

Hospitality Industry Property Risks: New York Hotel Elevator Malfunctions And "Plummets" 8 Floors

 “There was an elevator malfunction… Our security team responded to the incident immediately… All guests were safely evacuated… We are ensuring the elevator car in question undergoes a thorough inspection…”

 They got into an elevator and headed down from the rooftop terrace, but when another couple got in on the 16th floor, the compartment dropped and plummeted eight floors before stopping.

The group, which also included British actor Guy Burnet, actress Rosie Fellner and comedian Seth Herzog, was leaving the afterparty for new movie Janie Jones at the Gramercy Park Hotel in Manhattan on Thursday night (27Oct11).

Janie Jones director Rosenthal tells Nymag.com, “We’ve all had a couple of drinks… and we’re just piling into the elevator… Everyone is yelling and hooting… (The couple) decide to jump in, and as soon as they jump in, the thing starts plummeting down. His girlfriend is lucky she didn’t get killed because her foot was barely inside the door when the elevator dropped. I think we fell eight stories before the emergency brake went off. We initially thought we’d gone all the way to the basement and bounced on the springs.”

Emergency services were called to the scene, but the frustrated group decided not to wait, and took action themselves, climbing out of a gap in the doors onto a floor.

For more:  http://www.hollywood.com/news/Actors_trapped_in_elevator_fall/8028652

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by | October 27, 2011 · 1:37 am

Hospitality Industry Employee Risks: California Hotel Operator Ordered By Labor Commission To Pay "Back Wages And Penalties" For Denying Housekeepers 10-Minute Rest Periods

“…43 of the 80 employees at Embassy Suites Irvine filed formal complaints with the Labor Commissioner about the rest-period issue. Of the seven hearings that have so far been held, all seven workers received awards averaging $5,261 each…”

HEI Hospitality LLC, which manages the 293-room hotel, was recently ordered by a state Labor Commissioner hearing officer to pay $36,827 in back wages and penalties to full-time housekeepers who were denied 10-minute rest periods. The breaks are a legally mandated minimum standard in California.

Those housekeepers earned an average of $8.92 an hour before taxes. Their work included scrubbing toilets and showers, vacuuming, mopping floors on their knees, changing blankets and sheets, cleaning out microwaves, refrigerators and coffeemakers, taking out the trash, wiping down mirrors and counters and changing shower curtains.

The housekeepers said HEI would assign them workloads of 16 or 17 rooms to clean in an eight-hour shift, threaten them with discipline if they did not finish all their work on time and give them extra work such as cleaning hallways if they were seen standing around. Several of them were never made aware, as is required by law, that they had a right to take the breaks.

For more:  http://www.ocregister.com/news/hei-323823-employees-workers.html

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