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Nine months ago a hotel maid accused Dominique Strauss Kahn of sexual assault. The case was dropped but now NYC hotel owners and the union that represents maids wants all housekeepers to carry a security ‘panic button.’
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Filed under Labor Issues, Liability, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Technology
The 2010 ADA Standards for pool access have significantly changed the requirements for municipal and private pools by requiring, for the first time, that they be equipped with independently useable pool lifts during all operating hours.
Since the DOJ announced its intention to require lifts in nearly all pools, the hotel industry and others have opposed or sought clarification of this provision.
In October, 2010, the American Hotel & Lodging Association sought clarification of the pool lift requirements which become mandatory on March 15, 2012. The AH&LA noted that pool lifts, particularly fixed devices, are potentially dangerous to users and children playing around pools. Moreover, they can be quite costly to most pool operators. The industry’s concerns apparently fell on deaf ears as evidenced by the DOJ’s position issued this week.
The DOJ has officially confirmed that:
For more:Â http://hotellaw.jmbm.com/2012/02/doj_flash_on_pool_lifts.html
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Filed under Guest Issues, Labor Issues, Legislation, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Pool And Spa, Risk Management, Technology
“…New York state health officials say six cases of Legionnaire’s disease contracted last year have been linked to an upstate hotel…Legionnaires can cause deadly pneumonia…the germs spread through mist or vapor from 
contaminated water or air conditioning systems…”
A Department of Health spokesman tells local media outlets that tests confirmed earlier this week that higher than normal levels of legionnella bacteria were present in the water system at the Best Western Sovereign Hotel in Albany.
Officials say the guests who became ill stayed at the hotel between September and December.
The Times Union of Albany reports that Phoenix-based Best Western International said in a statement that the company is working with health officials and has taken steps to eliminate the bacteria. The company says current guests aren’t at risk.
For more:Â http://online.wsj.com/article/APc99086b2afa94c57a72e593a6a15e400.html
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Filed under Guest Issues, Health, Insurance, Liability, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
 “…Gonzales was working at the Holiday Inn on Walden Road when she tripped over a loose floor covering placed in the area where ISC was contracted to perform repair work…Gonzales is suing for her past and future mental anguish, pain, medical expenses and lost wages, plus exemplary damages…”
A trip-and-fall lawsuit, which was slated to be tried in December, will now be tried in May. Holiday Inn employee Carol Gonzales filed suit against Insurance Services Construction on Oct. 20, 2010, in Jefferson County District Court, alleging the company negligently failed to securely fasten a floor covering while performing work at the hotel.
International Catastrophe Solutions was later added as a defendant, court papers say. On June 22 Gonzales filed a motion for continuance, asking that the case be continued “for a couple of months based on the fact that ICS has still not” officially answered the suit, the motion states.
A hearing on the matter was held Aug. 22. Judge Bob Wortham, 58th District Court, decided to take no action on the motion. However, on Nov. 16 an amended discovery control plan order was entered in the case, bumping the case from the court’s December docket to the May.
For more:Â http://www.setexasrecord.com/news/241507-trip–fall-trial-bumped-to-may
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Filed under Claims, Health, Injuries, Insurance, Labor Issues, Liability, Risk Management
“…Firefighters reported high levels of carbon monoxide in the building, and the remaining guests and employees were evacuated. The gas filtered up to the fifth floor from a pool heater on the ground floor…”
The death of one man and grave condition of another has South Charleston City Council members thinking of requiring hotels to install carbon monoxide detectors. Mayor Frank Mullens was still gathering information Tuesday evening from city fire and police officers at the Holiday Inn Express along Corridor G.
A construction worker was found dead in his hotel room Tuesday morning when other members of his crew went to wake him. The man’s roommate was unresponsive and was taken to Charleston Area Medical Center’s General Hospital, where he was in critical condition Tuesday evening.
Two others were taken from the hotel to St. Francis Hospital.
Mullens said he never had heard of anything like it.
“From what I gather right now, we’re looking at a tragic accident,” the mayor said. “I’m just speechless. I’ve never heard of anything like this happening before in my life.”
The hotel, which opened in July 1999, had no carbon monoxide detectors, according to South Charleston Fire Chief Greg Petry.
State law requires all homes with gas appliances built after 1998 to have carbon monoxide detectors, but there is no such requirement for hotels. Petry said he didn’t know of a single hotel in the area with such detectors.
Mullens said the city follows state building code but the one regarding carbon monoxide detectors only in homes didn’t make any sense.
For more:Â http://www.dailymail.com/News/Kanawha/201201310236
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Filed under Claims, Guest Issues, Health, Injuries, Insurance, Management And Ownership, Pool And Spa, Risk Management
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The Holiday Inn Express along Corridor G in South Charleston has been evacuated after carbon monoxide was detected inside the building.
Kanawha County 911 Dispatchers tell WSAZ.com a man was found dead in the hotel and three others taken to the hospital.
One man was seriously injured. The other two victims were taken to the hospital as a precaution.
A South Charleston Firefighter tells WSAZ.com the two men were found on the 5th floor of the hotel.
Firefighters say there were extremely high levels of carbon monoxide found on several floors of the hotel.
About 10 to 15 people were inside the hotel at the time of the evacuation.
Firefighters say the room where the two men were staying did not have a carbon monoxide detector. According to the Assistant Fire Chief, hotels are not required by law to have carbon monoxide detectors, only smoke detectors.
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Filed under Guest Issues, Health, Injuries, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
Eight guests sued in August, seeking $337.5 million in damages from the resort and its builders. An MGM Resorts spokesman at the time denied negligence, saying hotel officials carefully communicated with its guests and reimbursed them fairly for legitimate medical expenses. The case is still pending in federal court in Las Vegas.
The bacteria that causes Legionellosis – or Legionnaires’ disease – was found in water samples at the Luxor hotel-casino this month after a guest died of the form of pneumonia, health officials in Las Vegas said Monday.
The Southern Nevada Health District said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention national surveillance program reported three cases in the past year of Luxor guests being diagnosed with the disease caused by Legionella bacteria.
The Las Vegas Strip resort’s water was tested after the first two cases were reported during the spring of last year, but no Legionella bacteria was detected, district officials said. Those guests recovered.
Officials say the Luxor, owned by MGM Resorts International, immediately began a remediation process once the bacteria was found.
MGM Resorts spokesman Gordon Absher said treatment procedures include superheating and super-chlorination of the water system.
For more:Â http://www.thirdage.com/news/legionellosis-found-in-luxor-hotel-water-samples-in-nevada_01-30-2012
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Filed under Claims, Guest Issues, Health, Insurance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
“The biggest issue hotel managers face in the coming year vis-Ã -vis the law is compliance with the myriad applicable statutes, rules and duties owed…”
A hotel faces potential legal consequences for all of the following:
For more:Â http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/154000320/4054640.html
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Filed under Claims, Guest Issues, Insurance, Labor Issues, Liability, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
“…dividends come back to restaurants participating in the TRA’s workers comp insurance program… creates incentives for the restaurants to have a safety program and to work with the insurance company and the 
employees to maintain a safer workplace….”
“Every year we get back … a little over half of our premium that we paid. So, it’s a big return of an expense,†says Lindskog whose company has been in the program since 2004. “A lot of people don’t want workers comp insurance because it’s expensive. But if you get half of it back, it makes it much more cost effective for your restaurant.â€
Texas Mutual is the leading provider of workers comp insurance in the state. It was created by the Texas Legislature in 1991 when major reforms on workers comp became effective. Its board of directors is composed of individuals from companies it insures as well as those appointed by the governor of Texas.
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Filed under Claims, Health, Injuries, Labor Issues, Liability, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training
After nearly a year and a half, Orange County detectives have cracked a case they said involves thousands of dollars in theft from convention-goers and exhibitors at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort.
Rodney Hyppolite was arrested this week and charged with grand theft in the case. Some of the crimes he’s accused of date back to August 2010.
Police reports show Hyppolite admitted to stealing laptops, smartphones and other electronics while he was working at the International Drive-area hotel.
He’s also charged with theft from a local Lowe’s store. Cops said Hyppolite profited by selling the electronics at a variety of local pawn shops — mostly Cash America locations. Investigators even matched the suspect’s fingerprints to documents from the pawn shops before getting his confession.
For more:Â http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/sheriff-employee-busted-serial-thief-rosen-resort/nHJfh/
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Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Insurance, Labor Issues, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Theft
