Author Archives: Ida
Hospitality Industry Safety Solutions: Hotels And Restaurants With Ten Or More Employees Must Maintain A Written “Fire Prevention Plan” That Complies With OSHA Standards
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Safety Solutions: Hotels And Restaurants With Ten Or More Employees Must Maintain A Written “Fire Prevention Plan” That Complies With OSHA Standards
Filed under Fire, Guest Issues, Health, Injuries, Labor Issues, Liability, Maintenance, Risk Management, Training
Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Hawaii Hotels Violate State Law In Collecting Tips And Service Charges And Not Passing It On To Employees; State Supreme Court Rules Workers Can Also Collect Damages
 “Legal experts say they’re likely settle the cases for millions of dollars since the hotels do not contest the amount of tip money that they took 
in…Some of the hotels have already settle cases or were hit by adverse rulings. They include the Fairmont Hotel on the Big Island which paid $2.2 million and the Pacific Beach and Pagoda hotels, which paid a total of $2 million…the ruling came in the case involving two Maui hotels: the Wailea Marriott Resort and the Westin Maui. Several banquet service workers alleged in their lawsuit that the hotels imposed a 20 percent service charge but did not distribute the proceeds to workers…”
For years, Hawaii hotels regularly collected millions of dollars in tips from customers but only passed a portion of those service fees to the employees who earned them. Under a ruling by the Supreme Court today, that practice now violates Hawaii law. The high court said hotels and other businesses can only collect the tips if they disclose that they are going to keep some of the money.
Attorneys who filed class-action lawsuits on behalf of the employees say the hotels are liable for big damages. “I would say it’s going to be north of $10 million. we have $3 million on one hotel on Kauai alone,” said attorney John Perkin, whose firm has filed eight of these suits.
Boston attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan, whose firm is also handling eight different class-actions against Hawaii hotels, said the ruling has broad applications beyond the hospitality industry.
“This will affect the food and beverage industry in Hawaii,” she said. “It will affect hotels, restaurants and other food and beverage establishments, catering companies, country clubs.” The cases are potentially costly because the ruling says that hotel workers can collect damages of up two times the amount in tips that the hotels took.
For more:Â http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/22848740/hotel-workers-could-get-millions-from-lost-tips
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Hawaii Hotels Violate State Law In Collecting Tips And Service Charges And Not Passing It On To Employees; State Supreme Court Rules Workers Can Also Collect Damages
Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
Hospitality Industry Theft Risks: Florida Hotel Employee Arrested In “Fraudulent Overbilling” Scheme; Over $220,000 In Orders And Fake Bids
“…(the defendant) used her job with the hotel’s management team to allow her husband — who owns two supply firms that outfitted the hotel with items like wallpaper, tiles and carpeting — to overbill for more supplies than were actually ordered….(she) was in charge of purchase 
orders for the hotel, and inspected guest rooms for damages to determine what needed replacing…the two went as far as concealing their relationship so as not to arouse suspicion from co-workers or auditors. The 22-page arrest affidavit also claims the couple produced fake bids so it appeared Jorge Maquilon’s companies, Decomax and Emporium Supplies, were the best supply source for the airport hotel. In some instances, the affidavit says, Jorge Maquilon ordered supplies — primarily wallpaper — that the hotel had four years’ worth of in storage…”
A husband and wife hired to oversee the purchase of supplies at the Miami International Airport Hotel were arrested Monday, accused of bilking Miami-Dade County out of $222,000 by jacking up prices and lying about the quantities of items purchased.
Jorge Isaac Maquilon and his wife, hotel employee Ivy Evans-Maquilon, both 54, were taken into custody by Miami-Dade police and charged with a single count of organized fraud and two counts of grand theft. Peruvian nationals, both were required to turn in their passports. They were behind bars at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center late Monday afternoon, with bond set at $60,000 each.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/15/3501584/arrests-made-in-overbilling-probe.html#storylink=cpy
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Theft Risks: Florida Hotel Employee Arrested In “Fraudulent Overbilling” Scheme; Over $220,000 In Orders And Fake Bids
Filed under Crime, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership
Hospitality Industry Health And Safety Compliance: OSHA To Increase Inspections And Enforcement Of “Emergency Exit Routes” Requirements
Retailers and hospitality entities (as well as other employers with multiple establishments) should be particularly attuned to this issue for several reasons. First, even without this directive from OSHA’s national office, year after year, 1910.36 continues to be one of the five standards most frequently cited against employers in these industries. Second, whereas in most workplaces, exits and exit routes are intended for egress of employees only, in retail and hospitality locations, emergency exits are there for both employees and patrons, which increases the scrutiny on the issue. Third, OSHA has launched at least two special emphasis enforcement programs (one in Delaware and another in Pennsylvania) focused on retail establishments, and looking at egress issues as one of the top focus areas.
Finally, although initial fines for egress-related violations are typically only $2,000 or less, OSHA now treats related workplaces within a corporate family as one workplace for purposes of Repeat violations, which carry penalties up to $70,000 per violation. This has been the primary weapon OSHA has used to drive up penalties against employers with multiple workplaces, like retailers and hospitality employers. By actively pursuing more Repeat violations, OSHA is issuing much higher penalties. Over the past four years, OSHA has increased the number of Willful and Repeat violations it has issued by more than 200%.
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Health And Safety Compliance: OSHA To Increase Inspections And Enforcement Of “Emergency Exit Routes” Requirements
Filed under Guest Issues, Health, Labor Issues, Liability, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
Hospitality Industry Safety Risks: Washington Hotel Guest Drowns In “Murky Swimming Pool”; Firefighters’ Rescue Pole Failed To Locate Victim
“…Just over a month earlier, health officials had closed the pool when an inspection revealed the water had no chlorine and was cloudy a 
spokesman for the health agency (stated)…It was reopened two days later after hotel management corrected the problem…firefighters conducted a grid search of the pool using a rescue hook and thermal-imaging camera but were unable to find (the victim), according to a fire department statement…”
The Seattle Fire Department is reviewing why its first responders could not find a Washington State University student who had sunk to the bottom of a murky hotel swimming pool and eventually drowned, The Seattle Times reported Friday. Tesfaye Girman Deboch, 27, died in the pool at the Quality Inn & Suites Seattle Center on June 30, after firefighters using a rescue pole failed to locate his body.
Officials for Public Health – Seattle & King County say the pool has a history of problems and should not have been open because of the murkiness of the water. The health agency has launched its own investigation, the Times reported.
Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/07/12/2675373/drowning-death-in-seattle-leads.html#storylink=cpy
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Safety Risks: Washington Hotel Guest Drowns In “Murky Swimming Pool”; Firefighters’ Rescue Pole Failed To Locate Victim
Filed under Guest Issues, Injuries, Liability, Pool And Spa, Risk Management
Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Maryland Hotel Group Sued By EEOC For “Pay Discrimination Based On Sex”; “Female Worker Paid Lower Wages”
“…Despite her years of similar experience at another hotel before she started work at Extended Stay Hotels and her five years of good job 
performance at the hotel, the hotel paid newly hired male employees more money than it paid to Weaver, even though they performed substantially equal work, the EEOC charged. According to the lawsuit, the hotel paid a class of female guest services representatives lower wages than those paid to their male counterparts for performing equal work…”
A leading hotel chain, Extended Stay Hotels, unlawfully paid female employees lower wages than those paid to male employees for performing equal work, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it announced today. According to the EEOC’s suit, Latoya Weaver worked as a guest services representative at the hotel’s Lexington Park, Md., location. Her duties included answering the telephone, making reservations and checking guests in and out.
Such alleged conduct violates the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. HVM L.L.C., D/B/A Extended Stay Hotels, Civil Action No. 8:13-cv-01980) in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Greenbelt Division after first attempting to reach a voluntary pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The EEOC is seeking injunctive relief prohibiting Extended Stay Hotels from paying female employees less compensation than their male counterparts for performing equal work, equitable relief that provides equal employment opportunities for women, as well as lost wages, compensatory and punitive damages and other affirmative relief for Weaver and other similarly situated female employees who were harmed by the hotel’s discriminatory conduct.
“Although we have made great strides in narrowing the wage gap between men and women, this case demonstrates that pay discrimination remains a serious problem in the workplace,” said District Director Spencer H. Lewis, Jr. of the EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office.
EEOC Regional Attorney Debra M. Lawrence added, “It is disturbing that even as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the EPA, some employers persist in paying women less than men for equal work simply because of their gender. The EEOC will take vigorous action to remedy sex-based wage discrimination.”
For more:Â http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/7-11-13a.cfm
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Maryland Hotel Group Sued By EEOC For “Pay Discrimination Based On Sex”; “Female Worker Paid Lower Wages”
Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Kansas Hotel Group Settles “Employee Termination” Lawsuit With Dept. Of Labor For $22,000 In Wages, Damages; “Workplace Safety Concerns Raised”
“…In addition to paying the back wages and compensatory damages to the former employee, True North will expunge all references to disciplinary action and termination from his personnel file and provide a written, neutral job reference, should any prospective 
employer seek a reference for the worker…Employers must understand that every employee has the right to raise workplace safety and health concerns without fear of retaliation or termination,†said Marthe Kent, OSHA’s New England regional administrator. “When employees are fearful or reluctant to raise these issues with their employers, hazardous conditions could go undetected until employees are injured or sickened…â€
As part of an enterprise wide settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor, True North Hotel Group Inc., a hotel management company based in Overland Park, Kan., will pay $22,225 in back wages and compensatory damages to a former employee who was terminated from a Massachusetts location after raising workplace safety concerns. The company will also educate all its managers and notify its employees nationwide about workers’ whistleblower rights under the Occupational Safety and Health Act as administered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
The worker then filed a whistleblower complaint with OSHA, which investigated and found merit to the complaint. True North has elected to settle the matter by taking corrective action.
Specifically, True North will immediately post the whistleblower fact sheet and OSHA poster, in English and Spanish, in conspicuous locations at all of its work premises nationwide, where they can be seen and read by all employees. It will also provide annual training on whistleblower rights and employer responsibilities to all managers and supervisors and provide training materials to all newly hired or promoted managers.
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Kansas Hotel Group Settles “Employee Termination” Lawsuit With Dept. Of Labor For $22,000 In Wages, Damages; “Workplace Safety Concerns Raised”
Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
Hospitality Industry Crime Risks: Florida Hotel Guest Room Thief Arrest Assisted By Surveillance Camera Footage; Followed Housekeepers Into Rooms To Steal Cash, Personal Property
“…(the defendant) walked into a room that a maid was cleaning, flashing a hotel card and telling the maid that it was his mother’s 
room…after the maid finished and left, Johnson took off with $1,800 in cash, $10,000 in jewelry, an iPad and Chanel purse…Miami Beach Police caught a break when they obtained hotel security camera footage of the suspect leaving the building…”
Miami Beach Police arrested a suspect Thursday in a month-old burglary case, only to find that he was wanted by six other police departments and was responsible – by his own admission – for 14 other burglaries in Miami Beach alone. Johnson, of Miami Gardens, was brought in for questioning in connection with a June 8 burglary at the Miami Beach Resort and Spa Hotel where $20,000 in cash, jewelry, and electronics were stolen.
The room’s actual residents, Brazilian tourists Aparecida Pata, 58, and Denize Ferreira, 73, returned from breakfast to find their room ransacked.
After he was arrested and read his Miranda rights, Johnson confessed to the other burglaries.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/04/3485443/man-arrested-in-beach-hotel-theft.html#storylink=cpy
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Crime Risks: Florida Hotel Guest Room Thief Arrest Assisted By Surveillance Camera Footage; Followed Housekeepers Into Rooms To Steal Cash, Personal Property
Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Labor Issues, Liability, Theft
Hospitality Industry Insurance And Legal Solutions: “Live Webinar†On “Lodging And The ADA†Presented By HospitalityLawyer.com On July 17
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Insurance And Legal Solutions: “Live Webinar†On “Lodging And The ADA†Presented By HospitalityLawyer.com On July 17
Filed under Guest Issues, Insurance, Liability, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training
Hospitality Industry Technology Solutions: Hotels Are Providing “Customized Apps For Guests’ Tablets And SmartPhones” That Facilitate Constant Interaction During Stay
“…hotels are starting to adopt (new apps) for guests’ SmartPhones and tablets. A number of companies—including Handheld Hospitality, iRiS 
Software Systems and Cardola– have developed apps (such as mobile phone acting as TV remote and pre-ordering dinner at hotel restaurant) that facilitate constant interaction between hotels and their guests before, during and after their stay…”
The apps can be customized for each hotel. But they typically work like this: When guests book their rooms, hotels send them emails letting them know about the app. They can then download the app and start planning their trips. The apps act as virtual concierges with information about local restaurants and attractions.
For those guests who want to spend time inside the hotel, they can use the apps to order room service, book spa appointments and golf tee times, and learn about in-house events or happy hour specials. In other words, the apps eliminate the need for an in-room directory or a concierge.
“Apps, like 16 different types of pillow, are seen as a must-have for hotels, particularly at the top end of the market,†says Katherine Doggrell, editor of Hotel Analyst Distribution & Technology.
But, she says, hotels run the risk of overloading the apps with too much information and too many functions. “What the customer often wants is the chance to cut down the time spent in queues trying to check in and out and pay, and that’s what apps can help do,†she says. “Apps should be functional, first and foremost.â€
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Technology Solutions: Hotels Are Providing “Customized Apps For Guests’ Tablets And SmartPhones” That Facilitate Constant Interaction During Stay
Filed under Guest Issues, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Technology
