Tag Archives: Lawsuits

by | January 24, 2012 · 1:25 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Texas Hotel Sued For "Negligence" In "Slip-And-Fall" Accident

“…According to the brief, Rodriguez fell, while holding his son, when he slipped on algae growing on a walkway at the hotel…”

A Harris County man is suing over claims he was hurt while staying at a Spring-area extended-stay hotel.
Roy Rodriguez filed a lawsuit on Jan. 20 in Harris County District Court against Sun Suites of Green’s Point, and others, citing negligence.

Rodriguez says he suffered injuries as a guest at Sun Suites Extended Stay Hotel, located at 12010 Kuykendahl Road in Spring. Rodriguez is seeking damages and court costs. He is being represented in the case by Houston attorney Mehran “Mike” Talabi.

For more: http://www.ultimatespringtx.com/stories/315167-courts-spring-hotel-named-in-slip-and-fall-suit

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by | January 19, 2012 · 6:47 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: "Class-Action Lawsuit" Filed Against New York Hotel And Water Park For "Norovirus Outbreak" Stemming From "Contaminated Food And Pool Water"

“…The state Department of Health documented more than 600 cases of norovirus in March 2008, apparently stemming from contaminated food and pool water at the park’s hotel complex…”

“…alleges that Great Escape, and its parent company Six Flags Inc., failed to maintain proper sanitary conditions and didn’t warn guests once the outbreak became known…”

Attorneys representing more than 100 people filed a class-action lawsuit Wednesday in state Supreme Court in Warren County against the Six Flags Great Escape Lodge & Indoor Waterpark over a 2008 norovirus outbreak.

“Here, many people, especially children, suffered brief but violent periods of illness,” said Don Boyajian, one of two attorneys representing those who were infected.

Those infected experienced brief but violent fits of vomiting and diarrhea.

Dozens of people filed lawsuits following the incident. Those claims were consolidated into a single case — the class-action lawsuit, which has been in the works since 2009.

Boyajian did not specify the amount of damages being sought. He said damages would depend on the virus’ impact on each individual.

Attorneys representing Great Escape were not available on Wednesday for comment.

Read more: http://poststar.com/news/local/class-action-lawsuit-filed-against-great-escape-over-norovirus-outbreak/article_997adaa2-4226-11e1-8bea-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz1juoN2fka

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Filed under Claims, Food Illnesses, Guest Issues, Health, Insurance, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management

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by | January 18, 2012 · 1:42 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Restaurant Group Loses Appeal To Supreme Court Over "Minimum Wage" Lawsuit Regarding "Underpayment Of Tip Income"

Many…employees claimed that, because they spent more than 20% of their time performing duties such as cleaning and prepping, they should earn full minimum wage during hours worked without tips.

Applebee’s turned to the Supreme Court in October seeking to overturn an earlier ruling from a federal court of appeals in Missouri allowing the case to proceed to trial in September. The company claims that prep work and cleanup is part of employees’ tip-earning responsibilities.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned down an appeal from Applebee’s International Inc., which is battling a lawsuit from more than 5,500 bartenders and servers accusing the restaurant chain of underpaying them.

The high court declined to hear Applebee’s case, which focuses on a practice in which restaurants pay employees reduced minimum wage by factoring in the extra boost provided by tips.

Known as a “tip credit,” the practice is banned in states such as California and Minnesota but permitted in Missouri, where many of the plaintiffs work.

For more:  http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-applebees-supreme-court-20120117,0,6981441.story

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by | January 15, 2012 · 1:05 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Texas Hotel Sued By Family Of Housekeeper Who Died Falling Down Service Elevator Shaft; State Required Inspection Two-Weeks Overdue

“…Gloria Rodriguez, 65, had been an employee at the Crockett Hotel for 12 years when she fell six stories down the service elevator shaft Dec. 28. The elevator’s state-required annual inspection was more than two weeks overdue at the time…”

The family of a Crockett Hotel housekeeper who plunged to her death down an open elevator shaft last month has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

Named in the suit are New Jersey-based Otis Elevator Company and 1859-Historic Hotels Ltd., a Galveston-based company that owns the Crockett Hotel and the nearby Menger Hotel in downtown San Antonio.

“Based upon current information, it is believed that she attempted to get on the elevator but when the doors opened there was no elevator, causing her to fall,” Houston-based attorney James Hada wrote in the suit, filed Wednesday.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Wrongful-death-suit-filed-for-fatal-elevator-2519149.php#ixzz1jSJFD4KN

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by | January 12, 2012 · 7:00 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Washington State Supreme Court To Hear Restaurant Operator's "Products Liability And Negligence Lawsuit"; Employee "Spat On Hamburger"

An appeals court asked a state supreme court for help in deciding whether to revive a case by a police officer against Burger King over a Whopper he says a worker spat on.

Bylsma sued Burger King and restaurant operator Kaizen Restaurants Inc under products liability and negligence laws. He said he suffered ongoing emotional trauma from the incident, including vomiting, nausea, food anxiety and insomnia that required professional help.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on Wednesday asked the Washington Supreme Court to clarify whether Washington law would allow the officer to recover damages for emotional harm when he only touched, but did not eat, the contaminated burger.

Clark County Sheriff’s Deputy Edward Bylsma said in the lawsuit that he drove his police cruiser through a Burger King drive-thru in Vancouver, Washington, in March 2009. He had “uneasy feeling” about the two employees that served him, the complaint said. When Bylsma later examined the burger, he noticed a large glob of spit on the meat patty. He touched the substance, but did not eat the burger.

DNA testing revealed the saliva belonged to one of the Burger King employees, who pled guilty to assault and was sentenced to 90 days in jail, the court opinion said.

For more: http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/Legal/News/2012/01_-_January/9th_Circuit_asks_state_court_to_weigh_in_on_Whopper_spit_suit/

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Filed under Claims, Employment Practices Liability, Food Illnesses, Guest Issues, Health, Injuries, Insurance, Labor Issues, Liability, Risk Management

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by | January 11, 2012 · 11:41 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Pennsylvania Restaurant Franchise Sued For "Racial Discrimination" In Promoting Employees

“…The lawsuit …claims that Panera franchisee Covelli Enterprises discouraged managers from hiring African Americans, and then relegated them to menial, back-of-the-shop roles….”

A Panera Bread franchisee had a policy of keeping “fat, black or ugly” people off of the cash registers and out of management positions, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court today that seeks class action status.

It follows a lawsuit filed in November by a former Panera Bread manager who said he was fired under pretenses after he objected to such policies. Both Mr. Vines and the former manager are represented by attorney Sam Cordes.

Mr. Vines, who is black, worked at Panera at the Galleria in Mt. Lebanon from November 2009 through August 2011, according to the complaint. While he was there, a district manager told a store manager that Sam Covelli, of Covelli Enterprises, might give them both a “death sentence” if he saw Mr. Vines working a cash register, because Mr. Vines was a “that” — code for an African American.

Because Mr. Vines was a good employee, the store manager continued to periodically put him on the cash register, and tried to promote him, the complaint said. He was repeatedly reprimanded, however, and was not allowed to promote Mr. Vines, it said.

Mr. Vines eventually was forced to quit because of the policies, the complaint said. Mr. Cordes said he now works at another restaurant. He seeks actual, compensatory and punitive damages.

Mr. Vines seeks to represent the interests of all African Americans hired at Panera Bread branches owned by Covelli Enterprises, which is based in Warren, Ohio. Mr. Cordes said that the class of plaintiffs does not include overweight or “ugly” people.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12011/1202770-100.stm#ixzz1jBDYhqK9

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by | January 10, 2012 · 3:26 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Woman Files "Negligence Lawsuit" Against Major Hotel Group After Front Desk Staff Gives Room Key To "Drunken Man" Who Assaults Her

A New York business woman is suing Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, claiming staff at one of their hotels gave her room key to a drunken man who allegedly sexually assaulted her in her bed.

 “…suing the company for negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress for an amount to be determined at trial…”

Alison Fournier announced the suit today at a news conference with women’s rights lawyer Gloria Allred. According to the suit, Fournier was in her locked room in Hotel Kämp, a hotel operated by Starwood Hotels in Helsinki, Finland, on the night of Jan. 15, 2011 when she was sexually assaulted.

The man, who was “visibly intoxicated,” had undressed, slipped into her bed, and proceeded to grope her naked body, the suit says.

That same man, according to the suit, later went to the front desk, said that he was Fournier’s husband, and obtained a key from hotel staff to her room.

The staff did not ask him for any identification or proof that he was in fact Fournier’s husband, according to the lawsuit. He then proceeded to her room and tried to molest her. She awoke, grabbed a housecoat, and ran screaming from the room.

For more:  http://abcnews.go.com/US/woman-sues-hotel-claiming-drunken-man-room-key/story?id=15324761

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by | January 9, 2012 · 6:13 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Ten Indiana Hotels Named In "Overtime Lawsuit" Involving Housekeepers And Food Service Staff

 “…to get all the rooms cleaned, she didn’t take lunch breaks or worked past the end of her shift…she estimates she is owed $5,200 for unpaid work over the past two years…”

 “…intends to ask the court to make the lawsuit a class action open to more than 1,000 local hotel employees who worked for Hospitality Staffing during the past three years…”

An attorney representing 14 Indianapolis hourly hotel workers plans to file a lawsuit today alleging their employers failed to pay them for overtime. Ten Indianapolis hotels, including some of the city’s largest, and the staffing company for which the employees worked, Hospitality Staffing Solutions, are named in the prepared complaint. Jeffrey A. Macey, an Indianapolis attorney for the workers, said he plans to file the 24-page document today in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis.

Most of the 14 workers making the allegations were housekeepers or food service staff.

For more:  http://www.indystar.com/article/20120109/LOCAL18/201090328/10-Indianapolis-hotels-named-lawsuit-alleging-workers-weren-t-paid-overtime?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CIndyStar.com

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by | January 7, 2012 · 8:11 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Pennsylvania Hotel Owner Settles "Wrongful Death" Lawsuit For Over $250,000 Of Man Who Was Trapped By "Suction Of The Pool Drain"

“…Mr. Williams’ widow… sued the club and its owner, Daniel Griffin, along with Elmhurst Corp., the hotel owner, claiming her husband became trapped in the suction of the pool drain…”

The settlement is confidential and lawyers would not discuss it, although court filings indicate that Mr. Williams’ daughter in Buffalo, N.Y., received $264,000, which represents part of the settlement.

A wrongful death suit against a Downtown hotel and a defunct athletic club involving the drowning of a Penn Hills man in 2009 has been settled for an undisclosed amount. Lorenzo Williams, 38, drowned on April 11, 2009, in the pool at the former Downtown Athletic Club adjacent to the Doubletree City Center.

Ms. Williams said Mr. Griffin, who rented the space for the club from the hotel, was negligent in not making sure the pool was safe by installing a drain cover as required by federal law.

The club closed in May 2009 after its lease expired.

The crux of the case was the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, a federal law passed in 2007 requiring all pools and spas to have special drain covers to keep children from getting trapped.

The law was created after Virginia Baker, the 8-year-old granddaughter of former Secretary of State James Baker III, drowned in 2002 after being trapped by a hot tub drain.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12007/1202018-53.stm#ixzz1imyIW57P

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by | December 28, 2011 · 6:26 am

Hospitality Industry Liability Risks: Hawaii Hotel Is Found "Liable" In "Slip-And-Fall Accident" As State Supreme Court Rules "Known Or Obvious Danger" Defense Not Viable

“…Michele R. Steigman sought to recover damages after suffering a slip-and-fall accident while she was a guest of Outrigger Enterprises’ Ohana Surf Hotel….The case went to trial, and a jury found that Outrigger was not negligent…”

“… in Hawaii, the known or obvious danger defense is no longer viable as a complete bar to an injured plaintiff’s claim in the context of premises liability.”

The Hawaii Supreme Court has ruled the “known or obvious danger” defense is no longer viable under state law as a complete bar to an injured plaintiff’s premises liability claim. Steigman’s appeal to the Intermediate Court of Appeals resulted in an affirmation of the trial court’s final judgment.

Steigman’s attorneys argued that the ruling goes against a comparative negligence law passed by Hawaii’s legislature in 1969 and modified several times.

The statue states: “Contributory negligence shall not bar recovery in any action by any person or the person’s legal representative to recover damages for negligence resulting in death or in injury to person or property, if such negligence was not greater than the negligence of the person or in the case of more than one person, the aggregate negligence of such persons against whom recovery is sought, but any damages allowed shall be diminished in proportion to the amount of negligence attributable to the person for whose injury, damage or death recovery is made.”

Therefore the court ruled the traditional “known and obvious danger defense” conflicts with that statute.

“Steigman contends that the traditional known or obvious danger defense conflicts with the Legislature’s intent behind the comparative negligence statute. We agree,” the court stated in its ruling.

For more:  http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2011/12/27/228806.htm

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