Tag Archives: Liability

by | February 10, 2014 · 8:45 am

Hospitality Industry Guest Safety Update: “Florida Police Ask for Tourist Tax Dollars to Fight Crime”

“…The move is likely to face resistance from Florida’s influential tourism industry which has fought similar plans in the past Imageto use tourism tax dollars for anything other than marketing expenses in driving more business to the Sunshine State…”

“…Jim Preston, president of the Fraternal Order of Police in Florida said police, fire and ambulance services invest lots of money and resources protecting tourist areas. ‘I think it’s reasonable that some of those tourist-tax dollars should be going to those agencies to help offset those costs,’ he said…”

Following a spate of robberies in hotels in Orlando’s tourist district in recent weeks, a law-enforcement group proposed extra spending on public safety, directly financed by the local hotel tax.

The Fraternal Order of Police wants the Florida Legislature to let local councils use some of their tourist tax dollars to fund public safety improvements in tourist areas.

There has been over a dozen robberies targeting hotels and restaurants in the Orlando area, thought to have been carried out by the same armed gang.

For more: http://www.travelmole.com/news_feature.php?news_id=2010156&c=setreg&region=3

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by | February 4, 2014 · 9:00 am

Hospitality Industry Liability Risk: “Legally Speaking: Avoiding Bath Fall Liability”

“…But knowing that shower areas present risks is not a trade secret shared only among guests. Hoteliers are also in the know. That fact imposes on inns a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable bathroom mishaps. bathThose steps include installation and ongoing maintenance of any of the following: non-skid strips on the tub or shower floor, a bathmat, handrails along the walls of the tub for gripping and/or like devices designed to reduce the dangers. Failure to provide, and keep in good form, these simple apparatus deprives the guest of protection against falling, and in many states opens the door, to a founded lawsuit…”

Some issues in hotel law come and go. Falls in slippery bathtubs have a sticking quality. Liability in this type of lawsuit can be avoided but it takes some attention to those porcelain bastions of cleanliness.

In the typical case a guest is showering, loses his balance and falls. Because floors and walls surrounding showers are customarily rock-hard, injuries are likely to occur and be substantial.

So, who’s at fault? The answer is: it depends. Yes, guests should know that tubs and shower stalls are, by their very nature, slippery and potentially dangerous. And, yes, guests should therefore use caution to protect themselves from injury.

For more: http://hlconverge.com/index.php/component/k2/item/781-legally-speaking-avoiding-bath-fall-liability

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by | January 24, 2014 · 9:27 am

Hospitality Industry Property Risks: “Slaying the Silent Killer, Carbon Monoxide”

“…Fireplaces, boilers, water heaters, pool-heating equipment, gas-powered tools, barbecues and cooking equipment are the most common types of fossil-fuel-burning equipment found in hotels,” said Todd Seiders, director of risk management at Petra Risk Solutions….” 20140123_carbonmonoxide_feature

“…Carbon monoxide is a gas, so it’s going to penetrate solids and seep into any open spaces just like cigarette smoke does,” said Stephen Barth, professor of hotel law at the University of Houston and the founder of HospitalityLawyer.com. “The problem is it’s deadly because you can’t see it, taste it or smell it. They call it the silent killer….”

REPORT FROM THE U.S.—Three deaths linked to a faulty pipe that allegedly exposed guests to a lethal dose of carbon monoxide at a Best Western in Boone, North Carolina, have hoteliers stressing the importance of carbon-monoxide safety.

With rare exceptions, hotels all have sources of carbon monoxide, sources said, and without proper installation, maintenance and inspection, hotel owners and managers could be putting their guests at risk.

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Hospitality Industry Legal Risk: “Parents File Lawsuit on Behalf of Teenage Girl Critically Injured in Panama City Parasailing Accident”

“…This lack of oversight means no one is keeping tabs on parasailing operators to make sure ropes that are damaged by sun and saltwater are replaced,” said Chalik who has spent years pushing for reform. “Parasailing should be a fun and safe activity, but parasailing companies that cut corners or disregard the safety of their customers can turn the popular beachside pastime into a dangerous and even deadly trip…”

PANAMA CITY, FL and ROANOKE, IN–(Marketwired – January 23, 2014) - The family of an Indiana teenage girl critically injured in a horrific parasailing accident last summer in Panama City, Fla. has filed a negligence lawsuit against the parasailing company, its owner and the hotel that operated the excursions.

On July 1, 2013, 17-year-old Alexis Fairchild of Huntington, Ind., and her friend Sidney Good of Roanoke, Ind., went up in tandem when strong winds snapped their parasail free from its boat below. Witnesses watched in horror as the girls were flung across the shoreline, smashed into a nearby condo rooftop and were dragged into a power line, before plunging into cars parked below.

“Aquatic Adventures Management Group, which operated Why Knot Parasail, not only ignored the fact that weather conditions had deteriorated, but failed to operate the boat a safe distance from shore,” said attorney Deborah Chalik, partner at The Law Offices of Chalik and Chalik, who filed the suit on in Bay County, Fla. on behalf of Alexis’ parents Michael and Angelia Fairchild. Chalik and Chalik has successfully represented a number of cases regarding parasailing accidents.

For more: http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/parents-file-lawsuit-on-behalf-teenage-girl-critically-injured-panama-city-parasailing-1871901.htm

For the original article: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/florida-parasailing-victim-sidney-good-breaks-silence-article-1.1587594

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by | January 23, 2014 · 8:41 am
by | January 13, 2014 · 8:40 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: “Kari’s Law: Murder Victim’s Family Campaigns To Change Hotel Policy”

“When we do this we want to do it right so people can feel comfortable when they have to dial 911 and they get an emergency dispatcher,” ImageGohmert told local TV station KETK. “Even adults when they’re witnessing something terribly traumatic will not be thinking about ‘what do I dial to get an outside line?’ They’d be running and dialing 911.”

“We are attempting to ensure that any person needing police, EMS or the Fire Department at any hotel or motel location may be able to dial the numbers 911 and receive emergency response,”

It was Dec. 1, 2013, and Kari Rene Hunt lie on the brink of death in a hotel room in East Texas. The eldest of her three children, a 9-year-old daughter, attempted to call 911 for help, but because she had no idea that she would have to dial 9 first to get an outside line, the call never went through and her mother succumbed to her wounds. Now, Hunt’s father Hank is out to ensure that hotels across the nation do away with systems that require dialing anything before 911 to make certain that the same scenario doesn’t happen again.

“We are attempting to ensure that any person needing police, EMS or the Fire Department at any hotel or motel location may be able to dial the numbers 911 and receive emergency response,” Hank said in a petition on Change.org. “In a panic, any underage child — or for that matter, anyone in an emergency situation — should be able to depend on dialing 911 from any phone in the United States and receiving assistance.”

For more: http://www.ibtimes.com/karis-law-murder-victims-family-campaigns-change-hotel-policy-1536166

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by | December 22, 2013 · 7:10 am

Hospitality Industry Safety Risks: Kentucky Motel Faces $1.1 Million “Negligence Lawsuit” After Guest Is Injured By Collapsed External Stairway

“…(the plaintiff) suffered broken heels and ankles in both legs, three broken bones in her lower back and multiple lacerations and bruises Hospitality Industry Injury Lawsuitsfollowing the April 23 stairway collapse…the defendants were negligent by “specifically allowing or creating a hazardous condition in the stairwell of the premises by failing to ensure that the steps were safe for use …” She also alleges the owners and manager should have known about the unstable stairwell. She is asking the court to award her $200,000 in medical expenses, $500,000 for pain, suffering and mental distress and $400,000 for future impairment to earn a living…”

A woman who was injured earlier this year after an external stairway collapsed at Richmond’s Super 7 motel suffered serious injuries that may make it impossible for her to work again, according to a lawsuit she has filed. Amanda R. Williams is suing the owners and operators of the motel, Richmond Host LLC and Alisha LLC, and the motel’s local manager, Paul Patel.

Williams said she must wear a back brace and is “confined to a wheelchair.” Both her legs are in boots, and she is under the care of a orthopedic doctor and a neurosurgeon in additional to receiving physical therapy, according to her suit.

See more at: http://www.richmondregister.com/localnews/x1250993435/Woman-details-injuries-suffered-in-motel-stairway-collapse#sthash.MR4LdSyZ.dpuf

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by | November 11, 2013 · 10:48 am

Hospitality Industry Liability Solutions: Hotel “Room Safe Online Tracking” Can Mitigate Guest Personal Property Loss

“…Tracking (room safe contents) is important because it can be a potential liability issue for hotels…“A guest might say, ‘But I left $1,000 in Hotel Room Safe Liabilitythere, and you only found $20!’”… Hotels can mitigate this issue by asking guests if they have left anything in the room safe before they leave the hotel…At the same time, it can be possible for safes to offer online tracking more easily by plugging into an online tracking system a hotel already has, such as for an emergency management system…”

Online tracking can ease the checkout process by making it less likely that a guest will leave a personal item in the room safe, said Bill Oliver, president for North America, VingCard Elsafe. Front-desk staff can prevent items from being left in the safe by merely querying departing guests at check-out.

Online tracking for hotel safes may not be a fit for smaller properties due to the cost involved in setting up the system, said John Foley, VP of sales at Safemark.

Larger properties can make better use of online tracking because of the sheer number of guests using safes each day, Foley said.

“At a property the size of MGM Grand in Las Vegas, you might have 60 guest openings or 100 service calls a day, so big box properties just have different ways of tracking different products inside the guestroom,” he said.

For more:  http://www.hotelmanagement.net/technology/tracking-safes-online-25340

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by | November 6, 2013 · 11:44 am

Hospitality Industry Safety Risks: Florida Hotel Faces Serious “OSHA Safety Violations” After Death Of Worker Crushed By Elevator; Lacked “Written Lockout/Tagout Procedures”

“…(the Hotel management company) had faced $23,000 in proposed fines for three serious and two other-than-serious alleged violations, Hospitality Industry OSHA Violationsaccording to the citations…RIA-Tradewinds allegedly lacked a written lockout/tagout procedure for the hotel’s elevators, the employee authorized to lockout/tagout the elevator involved in the death didn’t do so, and there was no coordination of lockout/tagout procedures with Progressive Environmental. The two other-than-serious violations involved the lack of documentation for lockout/tagout procedures and training…”

Two companies face $84,000 in proposed fines over the death of a worker in Florida who was crushed by an elevator car while cleaning the bottom of an elevator shaft, according to citations released Nov. 4 by the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The citations, dated Oct. 15, allege the two companies failed to coordinate their lockout/tagout procedures and that employees lacked required lockout/tagout training.

The worker, Mark Allen Johnson, 45, of Tampa, was employed by Progressive Environmental Services, doing business as SWS Environmental Services of Panama City Beach, according to OSHA and police reports. He died April 24 while cleaning oily water from the bottom an elevator shaft at a St. Petersburg Beach hotel. The hotel, Tradewinds Island Grand Beach Resort, is managed by RIA-Tradewinds Inc., according to the citations.

OSHA cited Progressive Environmental for one repeat and four serious alleged violations carrying proposed fines of $61,000.

For more:  http://about.bloomberglaw.com/law-reports/death-of-florida-worker-in-elevator-shaft-results-in-84000-in-fines-10-violations/

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by | September 27, 2013 · 5:46 am

Hospitality Industry Safety Risks: Florida Hotel Group To Place “Lifeguards And Fences” At Pools During “All Open Hours”; Move Follows Death Of 13-Year Old Boy In March

“…Lifeguards will be on duty at all times while the pools are open…But guests will no longer be permitted to swim in the feature pools after Hotel Pool Drowing Riskshours. Disney plans to install fences around any of those pools that are not already gated, a process that will begin in the coming months as hotels roll through their regular renovation cycles…(the move follows) the death of 13-year-old Anthony Johnson, who was pulled from a pool at Disney’s Pop Century Resort at about 9:30 p.m. on March 10…(he) died two days later at Florida Hospital Celebration…”

Walt Disney World says it will begin stationing lifeguards at its largest hotel pools during all operating hours and then locking them down overnight, six months after a young boy drowned while a pool was unguarded. Disney says its largest and most popular “feature” pools will begin opening at either 7 a.m. or 9 a.m. and closing at 11 p.m.

Only smaller and unguarded “quiet” pools at some hotels will remain accessible at all hours. Disney has about two dozen hotels and time-share resorts across its sprawling property.

“These changes make it easier for guests to understand when our pools are open and when a lifeguard is present,” Disney World spokeswoman Bernadette Davis.

Disney would not say whether a specific event triggered the move. Though that pool was open from 7 a.m. until 11 pm., lifeguards were only on duty from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Disney said it had posted signs warning that guests who chose to swim while the pool was unguarded did so at their own risk.

For more:  http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2013-09-26/business/os-disney-locking-swimming-pools-20130926_1_walt-disney-world-pools-lifeguards

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by | August 30, 2013 · 1:21 am

Hospitality Industry Pool Safety: “Hotel Swimming Pool Liability Reduction Checklist” From HospitalityLawyer.com

HospitalityLawyer Lodging and the ADA WebinarCommercial Pool Safety Checklist-page-001

Commercial Pool Safety Checklist-page-002

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