Category Archives: Management And Ownership

by | March 12, 2012 · 7:32 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Washington Hotel And Restaurant Sued By Fired Waiter For "Discrimination, Disparate Treatment And Infliction Of Emotional Distress"

“…He contends Matt Stickle, executive chef of the hotel’s Bite restaurant, belittled him in front of customers and co-workers and that the Murano’s managers did nothing to rectify the situation when he complained. Conteh, who immigrated to the United States from Africa, contends he was treated hurtfully and unfairly because he’s black…”

A Pierce County man is suing Tacoma’s Hotel Murano and the executive chef of its high-end restaurant, contending they discriminated against him when he worked there as a waiter. Muhammed Conteh filed his lawsuit last week in Pierce County Superior Court. Conteh seeks unspecified damages for discrimination, disparate treatment and the infliction of emotional distress.

Conteh contends, among other things, that Stickle “continuously harassed plaintiff about his personal smell and would physically smell the plaintiff and embarrass him in front of customers,” according to the suit.

Conteh said he also was punished for using the kitchen telephone and engaging in horseplay with colleagues. White co-workers who engaged in similar behavior were not disciplined, he contends.

Conteh was fired in January after working at the restaurant for eight years. He has been unemployed since, said his lawyer, Thaddeus Martin.

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by | March 11, 2012 · 1:10 am

Hospitality Industry Fire Risk: Ohio Hotel Fire Likely Caused By Electrical Problem In Ceiling Area Of Indoor Pool; Damage Exceeds $1 Million

“…The fire originated in the ceiling area of the indoor pool, it was likely an electrical problem, according to the release…”

“…Flames traveled from the overhang above the indoor pool to other walls in the hotel… Winds forced the smoke and fire up to the third floor and fanned the flames…”  

Holiday Inn Express employees stood huddled in thin blankets near Frisch’s Big Boy as firefighters from 10 departments attacked the building with axes and water. Smoke billowed from windows with punched-out screens on the southwest corner of the building at 773 Hebron Road. The three-alarm fire was fueled by a strong wind, up to 30 mph, from the northwest.

Firefighters tore into the building and tossed debris from open windows. Between fire truck sirens, the hotel fire alarm and radio calls of several chiefs, communication was challenging but achieved, Huggins said.

Investigators determined the damage exceeded $1 million, according to the release. Inspectors at the scene said the hotel’s fire alarm system and sprinkler system functioned properly during the blaze, according to the release.

For more:  http://www.newarkadvocate.com/article/20120309/NEWS01/120309003/Everyone-out-Holiday-Inn-Express-fire-continues

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by | March 10, 2012 · 8:24 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Jury Awards Maryland Woman $225,000 In Nation's Largest "Bed Bug Liability Judgment"

On Thursday, a jury ordered Calidad Furniture & Linen Inc., the store that sold Jackson a pair of wood-frame beds, to pay Jackson and her sons $225,000 for the ordeal. It is one of the largest bedbug liability judgments in the country.

Multimillion-dollar lawsuits over bedbugs have become increasingly common as infestations have spread across the country and victims seek to hold landlords, hotels and retailers responsible for their exterminator bills and mental anguish.

But a public judgment is rare in bedbug liability cases. Lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in damages have received publicity in recent years, such as several filed against the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York. But most fade away with confidential settlements.

In July 2010, Adarien Jackson’s 6-year-old son, Kaden, began complaining of itchy bumps on his ankles. They soon turned into a rash and spread to his back, behind his ear, and on his eyelid.

The child’s pediatrician and dermatologists tried allergy drugs, diet changes, oils and oatmeal baths. But it wasn’t until months later that Jackson discovered the cause of the problem. Kaden’s twin brother, Kyler, began waking in the middle of the night, crying out, “Bugs are crawling on me!”

Jackson realized her sons’ beds — which she had recently purchased from a furniture store in Elkridge — were teeming with bedbugs, according to a lawsuit she filed in Anne Arundel County in December 2010.

 

For more:  http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-03-09/news/bs-md-bed-bug-verdict-20120309_1_bedbug-infestation-bunk-beds-bed-wetting

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by | March 9, 2012 · 7:15 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: California Hotel Owner Charged With "Insurance Fraud" Over False Workers' Compensation Records

“…accusations that he dissuaded an employee from seeking workers’ compensation after a work injury and making false claims. The charges against him include two counts of insurance fraud, failure to maintain workers’ compensation insurance and passing bad checks…”

“…accused of paying approximately $890,000 less than he should have over a four-year period,,,”

The trial date for the owner of the troubled Brookdale Inn & Spa has been postponed because the District Attorney’s Office has filed more charges. Sanjiv Kakkar originally was scheduled to begin trial March 12 on accusations that he dissuaded an employee from seeking workers’ compensation after a work injury and making false claims. The charges against him include two counts of insurance fraud, failure to maintain workers’ compensation insurance and passing bad checks, according to Kelly Walker, a prosecutor with the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office.

Walker has just filed new insurance fraud charges against Kakkar and his wife, Neelam Kakkar, pertaining to insurance premiums. Kakkar is accused of providing false wage information to insurance companies to obtain lower premiums. In other words, he “grossly understated” the amount of payroll he was paying to his employees. He stands accused of paying approximately $890,000 less than he should have over a four-year period, according to Walker.

For more:  http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_20133381/das-office-files-more-insurance-fraud-charges-against

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by | March 8, 2012 · 1:17 am

Hospitality Industry Fire Risks: "Fire Safe Hotels" Are Listed On FEMA "Hotel-Motel National Master List"

CLICK ON "HOTEL" TO VISIT NATIONAL FIRE SAFE HOTEL SITE

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by | March 7, 2012 · 1:46 am

Hospitality Industry Employment Risks: Hotel Management Compliance Audits Can Expose Potential Labor Department "Wage And Hour Division" Violations

• Make sure nonexempt employees are paid the required minimum wage. The current federal rate is $7.25 per hour (some jurisdictions require a higher rate).  Review deductions to ensure that they do not cut employees’ pay below the minimum wage.
• Be certain nonexempt employees are paid the required overtime. Ensure that all bonuses, shift differentials, service charges and other payments are properly included in computing overtime and that deductions do not improperly cut into overtime pay. 
• Pay special attention to whether nonexempt employees accurately record all worktime. Nonexempt employees must record pre- and post-shift work; shift-change overlap; opening or closing activities; compensable training time, meeting time, “on-call” work; and time spent doing work at home. Employees must record meal time and other non-compensable break time, and they must be paid when they do not take that time off. 
• Be sure that all “exempt” employees meet the requirements for exemption. Review the criteria defining who may be treated as exempt from the Fair Labor Standard Act’s minimum-wage and/or overtime requirements. “Salaried” employees are not necessarily exempt. Certain positions such as sous chefs and sales managers are vulnerable to challenge. 
• Make certain that exempt employees are paid on a salary basis. The most common FLSA exemptions require that such employees be paid on a “salary basis” and thus receive a fixed, predetermined amount for every workweek in which the employee performs any work, without regard to the number of days or hours worked or the quality of work. Salary deductions are very limited. 
• Strictly comply with child-labor restrictions. There is an age 16 limit for general occupations and an age 18 limit for occupations declared “hazardous” by the U.S. Secretary of Labor. 14 and 15 year olds may be employed in limited occupations, within strict hours and times of day limitations. Identify every employee who is 16 or 17, verify his or her age and exact duties. Identify every employee under 16, verify his or her age, exact duties and hours and times of work.
• Comply with all state and local wage-hour requirements. The FLSA does not preempt tougher state or local provisions. These other laws might include a higher minimum wage; daily overtime; minimum pay for reporting to work; more rigorous child-labor limitations; prohibitions on wage deductions; and time limits for paying employees who resign or are fired.

For more:  http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/7679/Government-audits-Get-your-house-in-order

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by | March 6, 2012 · 1:22 am

Hospitality Industry Security Risks: New York Hotel Suffers Thousands Of Dollars In Damage From Group At Guest Room Party; Surveillance Video Critical To Finding Vandals

 “…a group at a party in a room at the Towne Plaza Suites on Holland Avenue is suspected of ripping off wall lights, breaking ceiling tiles and ceiling lights, discharging fire extinguishers and spraying a can of Mace in the third floor hallway…”

Vandals caused several thousand dollars worth of damage to an Albany hotel early Sunday morning. Mace got into the hotel’s ventilation system so the second and third floors had to be evacuated and ventilated, police said in a news release.

Hotel staff members believe the vandals are associated with an Albany man who rented a third fl oor room at the hotel. Police received a call from hotel staff about the incident at 1:15 a.m. Sunday, but when they arrived at the hotel all of the partygoers had already left through the back door.

Surveillance video will be examined to see if any of the vandals can be identified.

For more:  http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2012/mar/05/0305_vanals/

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by | March 5, 2012 · 8:43 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Illinois Hotel Sued For $75,000 By Woman Claiming Bartender Drugged And Sexually Assaulted Her

“…The bartender got a key to the woman’s room from the front desk staff and sexually assaulted her as she was passed out in the room, according to the lawsuit…”

“…The suit names the hotel as the defendant, claiming the staff was negligent in allowing the bartender access to the woman’s room. The suit seeks payment in excess of $75,000 plus the cost of court fees…”

A Virginia woman filed a lawsuit against a Lisle hotel claiming a bartender drugged her drink and later sneaked into her room with the help of a front desk clerk and sexually assaulted her.

The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court Wednesday, claims a 31-year-old bartender slipped a date-rape drug into the woman’s drink while she was at the Lisle-Naperville Hilton on Oct. 27. The woman began to feel ill at around 1:30 or 2 p.m. and went up to her room before her food had arrived at the hotel bar, said her attorney Jeffrey Deutschman.

For more:  http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20120229/news/702299617/

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by | March 4, 2012 · 7:39 am

Hospitality Industry Employee Risks: Labor Department Orders South Dakota Hotel To "Pay Back 72 Foreign Workers" For "Impermissible Recruitment Fees"

“…since 2009 Labor Department rules have required businesses to agree it “has contractually forbidden any foreign labor contractor or recruiter whom the employer engages in international recruitment of H-2B workers to seek or receive payments from prospective employees.”

“…Global Employment Agency required impermissible payments from prospective employees from $530 to $1,500…”

The Labor Department announced it had ordered Custer State Park Resorts to pay back $93,000 to its 72 foreign workers hired for the 2010 tourism season. The payments covered impermissible recruitment fees and unpaid overtime. The department fined Custer State Park Resorts an additional $65,000 in civil penalties, which it is appealing. Each year, Custer State Park Resorts hires about 375 to 400 employees, with fewer each year being guest workers, Schmaltz said.

Schmaltz said the unpaid overtime resulted from confusion in the guest worker rules. The bulk of the Labor Department fine Schmaltz said – roughly $60,000 – is repayment for fees taken by Kaubisch.

“We relied too heavily on this vendor who was supposed to know the laws and regulations,” Schmaltz said. “We put too much faith into what Scott knew.”

Kaubisch said he charged the fees to workers “to take care of them.” He took phone calls at all hours, arranged rides and helped secure housing for guest workers. It wasn’t until the investigation last spring, Kaubisch said, that Labor Department officials told him collecting fees was illegal.

Read more: http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/employers-ordered-to-pay-back-foreign-staff/article_1eea0e92-65a9-11e1-886a-001871e3ce6c.html#ixzz1oA6hDlvr

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by | March 3, 2012 · 6:56 am

Hospitality Industry Social Media Risks: Hotel Management Faces Legal Issues With Regard To "Relationships" Of Employees Discovered On Facebook

While platforms such as Facebook and Twitter present new opportunities for training and engaging with employees, they also bring new challenges and wrinkles to the age-old workplace policies and practices…(such as)… two of your most exemplary employees who work the front desk..(who)… one day via a Facebook update… entered into a relationship despite your hotel’s strict policy against it…”

“…A user who posts something on Facebook without the proper security filters does so with no expectation of privacy…”

The above scenario was one of many social-media quandaries presented during a table-top summit Tuesday at the 6th Annual HR in Hospitality Conference & Expo.

In this situation, you could fire Johnny, according to Gregg Gilman, an attorney with New York-based Davis & Gilbert LLP. A user who posts something on Facebook without the proper security filters does so with no expectation of privacy, he said. Thus, you treat the case as if you discovered the illicit relationship in one of the “old-fashioned” ways, such as hearing about it from another employee or observing certain tip-offs. 

“You have this new medium, but the same old rules apply,” Gilman said. “… If you operate by those rules, you’re going to be OK.”

Robert Mellwig, VP of HR for Englewood, Colorado-based Destination Hotels, agreed. “We don’t want to get distracted around the technologies,” he said. “… It could easily happen in any other form.”

Where an employer might get into trouble is if they “friend” an employee on Facebook under false pretences for the sole purpose of uncovering activity that runs counter to workplace policy, Gilman said.

For more:  http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/7665/Social-media-brings-new-legal-issues-to-hotels

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