Monthly Archives: March 2012

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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by | March 2, 2012 · 8:03 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Florida Hotel Sued By U.S. Dept Of Labor For "Dodging Taxes By Paying Employees Entirely In Cash" And Denying Overtime

“…The U.S. Department of Labor says the Cavalier Hotel and Crab Shack on Ocean Drive owes its employees $160,000 and that owner Ralph Abravaya skirted taxes by paying his employees in tips and refusing them overtime pay…”

“…Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, says a two-year investigation revealed Abravaya had dodged taxes by paying employees entirely in cash. He also underpaid them by denying them overtime when they worked more than 40 hours per week..”

An art deco hotel on South Beach is locked in a battle with the federal government over the kind of accusations that have gotten the 99 percent so riled up recently.

 “Yeah we screwed up,” Abravaya admits to Riptide. “Alright, so slap me in the hand. But don’t tell me you are going to destroy the business or fine me $300,000. If Abravaya loses in court, he will have to pay a total of $320,000 in fines and unpaid wages, plus court costs.

The hotelier admits that a manager did falsify records in an attempt to escape investigation. But Abravaya says he fired the employee as soon as he learned of the deception. He insists that when he took over the hotel and restaurant in 2009, he simply continued the policy set by the previous owner and paid the employees $6 an hour plus their tips — more than they were owed by law.

For more:  http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2012/03/cavalier_hotel_and_crab_shack.php

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by | March 1, 2012 · 1:24 am

Hospitality Industry Information Risks: Hotel's Store "Enormous Amounts Of Data" That Is Never Used; 100% At Risk And 0% Value

“…companies can go a long way toward reducing their exposure to significant losses resulting from a security breach by putting themselves on a “data diet…There is an enormous amount of information that we never use, but we never get rid of. It’s 100% risk and 0% value. As a risk manager, that’s the scariest equation you’re ever going to hear…”

While there is no way for companies to completely eliminate the risk of data breaches and cyber attacks, there are several steps they can take to reduce their potential financial and reputational losses, a panel of experts said Thursday at the third annual Business Insurance Risk Management Summit®in New York.

“The fact is that you’re going to be attacked. That’s the reality,” said Alan Brill, senior managing director of secure information services for New York-based Kroll Inc. A well-crafted cyber risk management program need not be wildly expensive or complex, Mr Kroll said, but should at least strive for “commercially reasonable levels” based on company size and industry.

For more:  http://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20120229/NEWS06/120229881?tags=|338|299|302|342|303|335

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