Monthly Archives: February 2012

by | February 9, 2012 · 1:57 am

Hospitality Industry Compliance Risks: Hotels Must Equip Pools And Spas With "Pool Lifts" To Comply With 2010 ADA Standards

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:

  • The mandatory date for installation of pool lifts is March 15, 2012.
  • Pool lifts need to be installed at each pool during all operating times and be independently operable by disabled persons.
  • Pool lifts must be “fixed” unless the operator can prove that doing so would not be “readily achievable” as defined in the ADA, in which event, a portable lift meeting all of the ADA Guidelines could be deployed.
  • Accessible lifts cannot be shared between a pool and a spa, each would seem to require a separate device.
  • Pool lifts must be properly maintained and in good repair, with any battery components charged for use.
  • Staff must be trained in the use and safety of pool lifts.

For more:  http://hotellaw.jmbm.com/2012/02/doj_flash_on_pool_lifts.html

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by | February 8, 2012 · 7:36 am

Hospitality Industry Health Risks: Texas Hotel Sued Over "Toxic Mold" In Room That Sickened Guest

“…the defendants “knew or should have known that the dangerous condition, toxic mold, existed on said premises, but failed to warn and/or failed to correct the said dangerous condition…the toxic mold caused the plaintiff’s personal injuries and property damage in question,” the suit says…”

Friendswood resident Stacy Johnson is suing Park Management Group and Sun Suites Interests alleging she was sickened by toxic mold in a hotel room.

Johnson’s lawsuit, filed Feb. 1 in Galveston County Court at Law No. 1, alleges the plaintiff fell ill on Aug. 3, 2010, as a result of toxic mold found in a room at Sun Suites of Clear Lake in Houston.

Park Management Group was responsible for the safety and habitable state of the rooms at the property in question while Sun Suites Interests owned said property, the suit says.

The original petition shows subsequent tests confirmed that the mold was in Johnson’s room and it was recommended that she not stay in the room.

For more:  http://www.setexasrecord.com/news/241622-woman-sues-hotel-claiming-toxic-mold-made-her-sick

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by | February 7, 2012 · 7:41 am

Hospitality Industry Employee Risks: Alaska Hotel Operator Ordered By Federal Judge To "Restore Terms And Conditions Of Employment" Prior To 2009 Union Negotiation Stoppage

 “…The injunction comes after a three-year legal battle. It requires the Sheraton take steps to restore the terms and conditions of employment as they existed prior to the hotel’s decision to stop union negotiations in 2009…”

Anchorage hotel workers are celebrating after a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against Remington Hospitality, the Texas-based operator of the city’s Sheraton Hotel.

Fay Gavin, a banquet server with 24 years with the Sheraton says she joined the lawsuit after management started doing things like cutting lunch breaks, increasing workload and giving away hours to temp workers.   The injunction, she says, is a step in the right direction.

“With this injunction we’re going to get our seniority back. With seniority, hopefully some of us will have an income again. And then down the road, the fired employees will be coming back, we hope to get back and get a contract, a fair contract and have respect again,” Gavin said.

For more:  http://www.alaskapublic.org/2012/02/06/judge-issues-preliminary-injunction-against-sheraton-hotel-operator/

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by | February 6, 2012 · 8:23 am

Hospitality Industry Health Risks: South Carolina Hotel's Swimming Pool Heater May Have Been Leaking Carbon Monoxide For Weeks Prior To Guest's Death

Investigators say the hotel’s swimming pool heater leaked carbon monoxide sometime during the night, killing Moran and injuring at least 17 others. Carbon monoxide readings at the hotel reached 500 and 600 parts per million, South Charleston Fire Chief Greg Petry said. Authorities say any reading over 30 parts per million is cause for concern.

“…(a guest)… speculated that his death was caused by the swimming pool before investigators confirmed that carbon monoxide leaked from the pool’s heater…”

Staff members at the Holiday Inn Express in South Charleston were aware of a problem with their swimming pool 10 days before an apparent carbon monoxide leak from the pool’s heater killed one and injured several others Tuesday, two Randolph County women said this week.

Lori Burnside, 40, of Montrose, and Danielle Mallow, 38, of Elkins, stayed at the Corridor G hotel with their two daughters on Jan. 21, but said they did not get any sleep because the hotel’s fire alarms kept them awake during the night.

The alarms were blamed on a problem with the indoor swimming pool, they said, which had to be constantly ventilated by the hotel staff.

For more:  http://wvgazette.com/News/201202040030?page=2&build=cache

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by | February 5, 2012 · 6:32 am

Hospitality Industry Property Risks: Florida Hotel Suffers Major Water Damage As Fire Sprinklers Are Accidently Activated, Flooding First And Second Floors

 “…A guest in a room knocked off a sprinkler, accidentally setting off the fire extinguishers. The knock-off of the sprinkler was itself accidental…The third floor was not affected. But water damaged the second floor, and seeped down to the first, damaging that floor as well. About three or four dozen guests were evacuated…”

Palm Coast’s Holiday Inn Express, a three-story, 81-room hotel, was evacuated this afternoon when sprinklers went off on the second floor. The Palm Coast Fire Department and the county’s fire rescue department responded in force, but there was no fire. A guest in a room knocked off a sprinkler, accidentally setting off the fire extinguishers. The knock-off of the sprinkler was itself accidental. No one was injured.

The third floor was not affected. But water damaged the second floor, and seeped down to the first, damaging that floor as well. About three or four dozen guests were evacuated. They were invited to register at the Hampton Inn and Suites, just 50 yards away. The Hampton Inn and the Holiday Inn Express are owned by the same concern. The Hampton Inn’s lobby at mid-afternoon was teeming with people registering at the front desk and waiting in the lobby-dining area, as firefighters remained at the Holiday Inn.

The Holiday Inn is expected to be off limits to guests for about 24 hours as a company is brought in to dry the two floors affected, authorities at the scene said. Although the third floor is not affected, the hotel’s elevator has been shut down because of water leakage. Hotel officials would not comment.

For more:  http://flaglerlive.com/33914/holiday-inn-evacuated/comment-page-1

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by | February 4, 2012 · 6:49 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Appeals Court Allows "Facebook Photos" As Evidence In Denying Man's Claim For Additional Compensation In Workers' Compensation Claim

“…the appeals court agreed with previous rulings, which denied a request for additional treatment after diagnostic tests showed “no recurrent hernia and surgery to explore the scrotum” and saw no abuse by the courts in allowing the photos…In denying Clement’s request for additional compensation and treatment, the court ruled in favor of the use of Facebook photos as a evidence…”

An appeals court  has ruled that photos on Facebook and Myspace of a man “drinking and partying” can be used as evidence to deny him further workers compensation claims.

At the center of the suit is  Zackery Clement, who suffered a hernia  March 12, 2009 after a refrigerator fell on him while on the job at Johnson’s Warehouse Showroom in Pine Bluff,  Ark.  Clement, who was compensated for medical expenses and received temporary total-disability benefits for more than a year, was seeking an extension of benefits following three surgeries as a result of the injury.

An administrative law judge and the Arkansas Compensation Commission denied Clement’s application for additional benefits, and Clement, 27, was hoping the Arkansas Court of Appeals would reverse the ruling. He argued that he needed further medical treatment and disability payments because of “excruciating pain.”

For more:  http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2012/02/court-okays-facebook-party-photos-in-workers-comp-claim/

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by | February 3, 2012 · 6:33 am

Hospitality Industry Health Risks: New York Hotel's Water System Is "Source" Of Six Reported Cases Of Legionnaire's Disease In 2011

“…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:  http://online.wsj.com/article/APc99086b2afa94c57a72e593a6a15e400.html

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by | February 2, 2012 · 6:46 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Texas Hotel Employee Files "Trip-And-Fall Lawsuit" For Negligence In "Failing To Secure Floor Covering During Construction"

 “…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:  http://www.setexasrecord.com/news/241507-trip–fall-trial-bumped-to-may

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by | February 1, 2012 · 6:41 am

Hospitality Industry Health Risks: Death Of West Virginia Hotel Guest On Fifth Floor From "Carbon Monixide Poisoning" Stresses Need For Carbon Monoxide Detectors

“…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:  http://www.dailymail.com/News/Kanawha/201201310236

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