Author Archives: Ida

by | September 7, 2013 · 7:12 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Oregon Restaurant Sued For “Racial Discrimination”, Retaliation; Claims “Intentional Bias, Visceral Antagonism”

“…The suit says (the plaintiff) reported Counard’s conduct and “visceral antagonism” to other managers…he was suspended based on an Hospitality Industry Discrimination Lawsuitsallegation that he had told a server to rinse and serve a skewer of shrimp that had fallen on the floor…A month later, after an investigation in which Huleis was not interviewed, he was fired…The lawsuit claims Huleis’ treatment was intentional, was part of a pattern of discrimination against minority employees and was done with a reckless disregard for the company’s societal obligations…”

A Eugene man who says he was fired from his job at the Eugene Red Lobster restaurant because he is of Middle Eastern descent has filed a lawsuit against the chain in federal court. Jim Huleis, who came to Eugene in 2011 to help open a Red Lobster outlet near Valley River Center, seeks unspecified damages on claims of racial discrimination and retaliation. He alleges an area manager who disliked that Huleis was Arab singled him out for bad treatment to discredit and ultimately fire him.

The lawsuit asks the court to issue an injunction barring Red Lobster’s parent company, Florida-based GMRI Inc., from discriminating against people based on race or national origin. It also asks for an award compensating Huleis for his economic losses, including his past and future earnings, and for reinstatement to his job.

In addition, the suit asks for compensation for noneconomic damages and punitive damages and for an award covering his legal costs.

“We are a company known for greatly valuing diversity and have zero tolerance for any form of discrimination, so we take any claim like this very seriously,” Bernstein said in an e-mailed statement. “If there are differences between employees and our company during or after employment, the mutual goal is to resolve these issues in a prompt and fair way, and to do that we have a robust dispute resolution process, which includes mediation and arbitration. Mr. Huleis is pursuing this matter through that process.”

According to the suit, Counard immediately treated Huleis different from other managers, giving him inappropriate tasks, minimizing him and barring him from duties he would usually perform.

For more:  http://www.registerguard.com/rg/news/local/30417354-75/huleis-eugene-lobster-red-says.html.csp

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by | September 6, 2013 · 9:15 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Florida Sports Bar Sued By Man Attacked By Bouncers; Assault Captured On Cell Phone And Posted Online

“…a bystander caught the incident on his cell phone (and shows) the first punch thrown (at the plaintiff), then a bouncer stomping on his head.  However, Coelho was the one arrested and charged with battery on a law  enforcement officer…(but) what people see from the video (is that) he Sports Bar Lawsuit Over Assault By Bouncerswas the  victim an attorney stated…The state attorney agreed and dropped charges against Coelho…the (sports bar) posted a statement on their Facebook page deeply regretting the matter…The sports bar has also fired the bouncers involved in the altercation (and) they have  since been arrested for the attack…”

A man involved in a fight outside a South Florida bar is filing a lawsuit  against those, he says, are responsible. Alex Coelho was with his girlfriend and friends when he was attacked outside  of Dirty Blondes in Fort Lauderdale Beach back in July.  After a verbal argument  with one of the bartenders, they were escorted outside. As the argument ensued,  Coelho was attacked and beaten by the bouncers. The attack was caught on  camera.

According to the group, they ordered a round of drinks. When one of the  drinks came back wrong, they said the bartender became irate. “‘That’s what you  ordered, if you don’t like it, you can get a drink somewhere else’ type of  deal,” Coelho said. “I offered to pay for another one, and then she called the  bouncers over. I actually offered them, ‘I don’t want any trouble here.’ I  pulled a $10 bill out of my pocket.”

Coelho asked to speak to the bar’s manager once the tension began to rise.  “I work in hospitality, and I understand how people should be treated,” Coelho  said. I definitely wasn’t yelling. I definitely didn’t want to fight or get in a  fight. I’ve never been arrested, ever.”

Read more: http://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/21011603710196/man-files-lawsuit-after-bar-fight/#ixzz2e8EiWlNd

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Hospitality Industry Technology Solutions: Hotels Increasingly Rely On “Mobile Platforms” For Guest Check-In; “Mobile App Downloads” To Increase More Than 7-Fold In Next Five Years

Infographics On Hospitality Mobile Apps

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by | September 5, 2013 · 9:13 am
by | September 4, 2013 · 8:35 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Issues: Restaurants Beginning To Replace “Tipping” With Surcharges Or Higher Menu Prices In Response To “Wage Violation Lawsuits”, Cultural Changes

 “…Front-of-house workers are suing one respected restaurant after another, including Dovetail, last month, accusing them of playing fast and Hospitality Industry Wage Violation Lawsuitsloose with the laws on tips. The charges include sharing tips with workers who aren’t eligible for them and making tipped employees spend too much time on what is called sidework, like folding napkins between meals…One such lawsuit was settled for more than $5 million. Some owners now think they can avoid the suits by eliminating tips…”

“…Another change is cultural. The restaurant business can be seen as a class struggle between the groomed, pressed, articulate charmers working in the dining room and the blistered, stained and profane grunts in the kitchen. The rise of chefs that are also owners has brought a few of the grunts to power. But as the average tip has risen to 20 percent or so from 15 percent, the pay for line cooks, dishwashers and others has stayed low…”

“…The self-interest calculation (for servers) may be different now. Credit card receipts and tougher oversight have virtually killed off unreported tips…”

Sushi Yasuda joins other restaurants that have done away with tips, replacing them with either a surcharge (Atera and Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare in New York; Next and Alineain Chicago; Coi and Chez Panisse in the San Francisco Bay Area) or prices that include the cost of service (Per Se in New York and the French Laundry in Healdsburg, Calif.).

These restaurants are numerous enough and important enough to suggest that a tip-reform movement is under way. On the other hand, they are few enough and exceptional enough to suggest that the movement may remain very small, and move very slowly.

Americans have stuck with tipping for years because all parties thought it worked in their favor. Servers, especially in restaurants from the mid- to high-priced, made good money, much of it in cash, and much of that unreported on tax returns. Owners saved on labor costs and taxes. And customers generally believed that tips brought better service.

For more:  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/04/dining/leaving-a-tip-a-custom-in-need-of-changing.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

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by | September 3, 2013 · 6:26 am

Hospitality Industry Cybercrime Risks: Criminal Hackers Target Hotels Lacking “Advanced Data Security Safeguards” On Local Credit Card Transactions; “Chip-And-Pin Cards” Coming Soon

“…criminal hackers gravitate to some hotels because, like retail stores and restaurants, hotels do many credit card transactions at a local level, where centralized and highly sophisticated data security safeguards may be lacking…Most hotels are locally owned, though managed by big Cyber Risk Insurance Graphichotel chain companies. For hotel owners, it is expensive to come into full compliance with the tough global data security criteria set by the credit card companies…That includes using complex passwords, being wary of public Wi-Fi, updating antivirus software — and checking credit card statements carefully…”

“…In the United States, credit cards use magnetic strips that are more vulnerable to hacking than the electronic chips embedded in credit cards in Europe and elsewhere. Such cards also require entry of a PIN…these so-called chip-and-PIN cards are headed our way, said Kathy Orner, vice president for information security at Carlson Rezidor, a worldwide hotel company that is among the industry leaders in data security…all of the major credit card issuers plan to start introducing these cards in the United States within two or three years…”

In its 2013 Global Security Report, Trustwave, a data security management firm, says that the top three industries targeted for data breach attacks in 2012, measured by the number of its investigations, were retailing (45 percent), food and beverage (24 percent) and hotels (9 percent). Three years ago, the hotel industry was at the top, but hotels have since made “significant strides” in improving credit card security measures, the report says.

Last year, for example, the Federal Trade Commission sued Wyndham Worldwide, the hotel chain, for what it said was inadequate safeguarding of credit card information that led to three data breaches at hotels in under two years, with “millions of dollars in fraud loss, and the export of hundreds of thousands of consumers’ payment card account information to an Internet domain address registered in Russia.”

The threat is constant, Mr. Roman said. “The best protection is vigilance, and that takes work,” he said.

For more:  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/03/business/data-security-begins-with-the-traveler.html

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by | September 2, 2013 · 8:00 am

Hospitality Industry Employment Issues: “Becoming A Resume Lie Detector” From HospitalityLawyer.com

HospitalityLawyer Lodging and the ADA Webinar

Hospitality Industry Resume Lie Detection-page-001

Hospitality Industry Resume Lie Detection-page-002

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by | September 1, 2013 · 8:12 am

Hospitality Industry Technology Solutions: “Emergency Management Software” For Hotels Provides Fire, Police Departments With Instant Access To “Site And Floor Plans, HAZMAT Details And Utility Shut-Off Locations”

“…By installing (the Emergency Management Software), Doubletree provides Detroit’s first responders instant on-site access to site plans, floor Hotel Emergency Management Softwareplans, hazardous material details, utility shut-off locations, geographical maps, fire hydrants locations, persons with special needs, guests and residents, and other critical information.  The pre-plan data will be on a touch screen computer in the lobby as well as on the mobile data computers in Detroit’s fire department and law enforcement vehicles…”

“Our adoption of this technology is an excellent example of the private sector bracing the public works,” said Shannon Dunavent, general manager of Detroit DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel.  “This new technology will be fully implemented by September 1st, making all critical building information quickly available to first responders.  We are not only making a smart, cost-effective investment in our property and in the safety of our guests and staff, but in the city’s ability to respond to emergencies.”

CommandScope allows building and facility owners, managers and first responders alike to easily add and upload building and site data.  The information is shareable across organizations and city departments, and is updateable in real-time allowing first responders to act with knowledge rather than trial and error.  First responders can save time and lives by immediately execute emergency procedures instead of wasting time locating managers or engineers on site.

For more:  http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/2013/08/commandscope-pre-plan-technology-changing-the-nature-of-first-response.html

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by | August 31, 2013 · 8:15 am

Hospitality Industry Insurance Update: California Restaurant Employee Injured By Co-Worker’s Prank Entitled To Workers’ Compensation Only; Court Dismisses Lawsuit Against Employer

 “…The waiter received workers’ compensation benefits and sued his employer…The court explained that even if the exception extended to an workers compensation insuranceassault by a “managing representative” the waiter did not show that the lead cook was a managing representative. The lead cook did not exercise general discretionary power of direction and control over the restaurant business or even the kitchen. At most, she made decisions regarding the kitchen work in the evenings…The California Court of Appeal dismissed the suit, finding that workers’ compensation held his exclusive remedy…”

A pizza cook at a restaurant heated a pan before placing a pizza on the pan for a waiter to bring to a customer. Because the pizza pans were generally kept cool, the waiter picked up the pan with his bare hand. When he did so, he screamed and dropped the pan. He suffered serious and permanent burn injuries.

The waiter acknowledged that before his burn injury there was substantial horseplay among the restaurant employees. The employees routinely engaged in practical jokes. He claimed that after he burned his hand he saw the lead cook and other employees laughing.

The court rejected the waiter’s argument that exceptions to the exclusivity provision applied. He did not show that the employer committed a physical assault or had any involvement or knowledge of the incident or that the lead cook or pizza cook acted on the employer’s behalf.

The waiter also did not show that the employer or any managers were aware that the lead cook had any responsibility for his burn injuries or that she was involved in an assault toward him. A restaurant manager questioned employees about the incident but only learned that the pizza cook was responsible for placing the hot pan.

For more:  http://www.riskandinsurance.com/story.jsp?storyId=533354776

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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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by | August 29, 2013 · 5:59 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Ohio Restaurant Operator Sued For “Fair Labor Standards Act” Violations And “Unjust Enrichment”; Employees Forced To “Tip Out” Managers And Others Not Regularly Receiving Tips

“…According to the lawsuit, restaurant employees weren’t allowed to keep all of their tips because they were required to “tip Hospitality Industry Wage Violation Lawsuitsout” managers and other employees who do not regularly and customarily receive tips. That resulted in employees’ being paid less than minimum wage…a tip pool can’t include managers or other workers, such as chefs or dishwashers, who don’t typically receive tips…The lawsuit requests a jury trial for five counts of Fair Labor Standard Act violations and a count of unjust enrichment. It seeks an unspecified amount in damages that (the attorney) said would ultimately prove “substantial.””

A federal lawsuit filed Monday alleges that Jeff Ruby Culinary Entertainment, which runs Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse and Jeff Ruby’s Carlo & Johnny, forced employees to share tips with managers and other workers in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The practice allegedly stopped about a year ago, but lawyers for three former employees aim to recoup losses from a two-year period beginning in 2010.

Lawyers Sarah Clay Leyshock and Kristen M. Myers – both of the law firm Beckman Weil Shepardson LLC – filed the class-action suit on behalf of the three former employees as well as anyone else who might step forward in the case. Two of the represented employees worked at Carlo & Johnny in Montgomery while the third worked at the Downtown steakhouse, Leyshock said.

“Under the Fair Labor Standard Act, employees are required to retain their own tips. The one exception is that employees can be required to share their tips in a valid tip pool,” Leyshock said. She said invalid tip pools are fairly common, but still illegal.

For more:  http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130827/NEWS/308270075/Suit-Two-Ruby-eateries-skimmed-tips

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