Category Archives: Guest Issues

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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Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Guest Issues, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management

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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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Filed under Guest Issues, Insurance, Liability, Management And Ownership, Privacy, Risk Management, Technology, Theft

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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 26, 2013 · 5:45 am

P3 Hospitality Industry Risk Report: “Hotel Pool Preparation, Maintenance And Checklist” By Petra Risk Solutions’ Risk Manager Joe Fisco, CLSD (Video)

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/52436189]

P3Petra Risk Solutions’ Risk Manager, Joe Fisco, CLSD , offers a P3 Hospitality Risk Update – ‘Hotel Pool Preparation, Maintenance And Checklist’.

P3 (Petra Plus Process) is the Risk Management Division of Petra Risk Solutions – America’s largest independent insurance brokerage devoted exclusively to the hospitality marketplace.

For more information on Petra and P3 visit petrarisksolutions.com or call 800.466.8951.

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Filed under Guest Issues, Health, Insurance, Liability, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Pool And Spa, Risk Management

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by | August 25, 2013 · 6:13 am

Hospitality Industry Health And Safety: Hotels And Restaurants Avoid Onsite “Automated External Defibrillator (AED)” Placement And Training Due To Concerns About Risks And Liability

“…the American Hotel and Lodging Association, singled out the patchwork of state laws as a major reason hotels in the U.S. “do not uniformly provide training and AEDs onsite,” in a 2009 report.

AED Defibrillator Sign“…across America, there is anything but agreement among states about rules for the use of automated external defibrillators (or AEDs): Where they must be located; if they should be registered so authorities know where they are; whether a business that installs one is fully protected from liability; or even if a company is obliged to use one if someone on the premises suffers sudden cardiac arrest…”

There is no dispute that portable defibrillators, simple-to-use device that supply jolts to shock a stilled heart to beat again, could save tens of thousands of lives a year in this country alone if they are accessible to willing bystanders.

And some experts say the uneven patchwork of laws and regulations is a worrisome barrier to more widespread distribution and use of the battery-powered devices, which, if employed within minutes of cardiac arrest, can bring a person back to life.

For instance, many AEDs still carry labels saying they should only be used by “medical professionals” even though there are laws in every state giving “good Samaritan” protection to anyone who tries to use one to save the life of someone in cardiac arrest.

“The concerns about risk and liability remain very high,” said Richard Lazar, president of Readiness Systems LLC, a Portland, Ore., firm that consults with businesses and governments on AED training and placement.

Mandates for where AEDs should be placed are a national checkerboard. Nineteen states impose no mandates. But, in New York state, AEDs are required in health clubs, while in Florida, they’re mandatory in public high schools. Yet recent court rulings in both states have held that, just because those facilities are required to have the devices, they are under no legal obligation to use them.

For more:  http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2013/aug/25/aed-laws-cause-confusion/

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by | August 24, 2013 · 6:02 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Restaurants And Hotels Must “Thoroughly And Consistently” Train Employees For Alcohol Service

HospitalityLawyer Lodging and the ADA Webinar

Training-Employees-for-Alcohol-Service-page-001

Training-Employees-for-Alcohol-Service-page-002

http://www.foodbevlaw.com/

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by | August 22, 2013 · 5:59 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: New York Restaurant Sued For $1 Million For “Refusing Service” To Disabled War Veteran Using Service Dog To Ease “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)”

“…(the plaintiff), who uses the dog to ease his posttraumatic stress disorder, is suing  for $1 million in Manhattan Federal Court. He claims the Hospitality Industry ADA Lawsuitsincident humiliated him and exacerbated his PTSD…(he) said he tried to reason with the employee invoking the Americans with  Disabilities Act (ADA), which permits service animals in public spots…(the plaintiff), who won an undisclosed settlement in 2011 after suing a McDonald’s in  Times Square over a similar experience, said he left the KFC rather than  continue the argument…”

A disabled Iraq War veteran who worked at Ground Zero says the Colonel  treated him like trash. Charles Hernandez, 50, a retired public school administrator, claims he was  refused service at a KFC in the Bronx after he brought his service dog into the  fried chicken joint.

His suit says the KFC worker violated federal, state and city laws and caused  Hernandez distress. The suit also names as defendants KFC manager Sade Clarke,  the restaurant’s owner, Star Partner Enterprises Two LLC, and that company’s  principal owner, Thomas Rose.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/kfc-turns-iraq-war-vet-service-dog-lawsuit-article-1.1432999#ixzz2choApBsK

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by | August 21, 2013 · 5:58 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Texas Restaurant Sued By Man Who Fell On Step Hidden By “Busy Carpet Pattern”; “Dangerous Condition Created”

“…The suit asserts the defendant should haven known that the excessive pattern on the carpet obscured patrons’ abilities to detect the step and Hospitality Industry Injury Lawsuitsthat it confuses the eye…the suit further alleges there were no warning signs of the dangerous condition…the plaintiff is suing for his alleged past and future medical expenses, mental anguish, pain, impairment and lost wages…”

Orange County resident Danny Stilley is blaming a “busy carpet pattern” at an area restaurant as the reason why he tripped and fell. Stilley filed suit against Kampus Korner Restaurant on Aug. 14 in Jefferson County District Court. According to the lawsuit, on Feb. 4, 2012, Stilley was a patron at the restaurant, located near the Lamar University campus. He purchased a cup of coffee and was instructed to go sit at an elevated section of the diner.

Stilley sat at his table for some time and when he got up he failed to “detect the change in floor elevation and tripped,” hitting the ground and knocking himself unconscious.

“The elevated area was covered with a carpet with a busy pattern,” the suit states. “Due to the very busy pattern on the carpet, it is difficult to detect the rise in elevation.”

For more:  http://setexasrecord.com/news/288504-busy-carpet-pattern-caused-mans-fall-suit-alleges

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