Category Archives: Labor Issues

by | July 14, 2012 · 8:16 am

Hospitality Industry Health Risks: Oregon Restaurants Will Not Be Required To Prohibit "Bare-Hand Contact" Pending Review; "Double Hand-Washing Rule" To Be Enforced

“…(the State of Oregon) decided to remove the bare-hand contact prohibition from the proposed rules because this issue needs further discussion…the group will convene multiple times over the next few months. The state will continue to enforce its double hand-washing rule for food servers until any changes are announced…”

The Oregon Health Authority is shelving its proposed rule mandating that restaurant workers not prepare food with their bare hands. State health officials have decided to convene a work-group on standards to prevent food-borne illness. The group will work toward a substitute to the so-called “no bare hand contact” rule originally proposed by the Health Authority.

That provision was to take effect on July 1, but was delayed after protests from the food service industry. The work group will include restaurateurs, legislators, medical professionals and others.

Gail Shibley, the administrator of the OHA’s Public Health Division, said her agency is looking for diverse opinions. “We think we can get the wisdom from restaurateurs as well as a variety of other folks to really dig into the details of this specific provision, and move forward at a later date,” she said.

For more:  http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120713/NEWS07/120719990/-1/NEWSMAP

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by | July 7, 2012 · 6:59 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Washington Hotel Owners Agree To Pay $365,000 To Settle EEOC Harassment Lawsuit

Among other incidents cited in the EEOC statement, the general manager threw a stapler at one employee, and told another she was nothing but a welfare mother and should abort her pregnancy.

Two hotel groups have agreed to pay $365,000 to settle a harassment lawsuit brought by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in connection with the alleged actions of a general manager who worked for two hotels in the state of Washington.

According to a statement issued by the EEOC on Thursday, the unidentified general manager of the Best Western Evergreen Inn in Federal Way, Wash., and the Best Western Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Wash., “persistently harassed and denigrated women, including those who were minorities and had strong religious beliefs, in violation of the federal law.” Court papers identify the general manager as Syed Ahmed.

The EEOC said female employees were subjected to the constant use of racial slurs and derogatory sex-based and racial comments.

For more:  http://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20120706/NEWS07/120709937?tags=%7C70%7C75%7C303

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by | July 5, 2012 · 6:14 am

Hospitality Industry Employment Risks: South Carolina Hotel Settles Sexual Harassment And Retaliation Lawsuit With EEOC For $90,000

“… from at least August 2007 until January 2009, the hotel’s male general manager subjected the women to sexual comments, sexual advances and unwelcome touching. When Tamara Byrd reported the sexual harassment to the defendants’ corporate office, the defendants failed to properly investigate or stop the harassment. The general manager then discharged Byrd. The EEOC contends that Byrd’s discharge was because she refused the general manager’s unwelcome sexual advances and in retaliation for her complaints of sexual harassment to the corporate office…”

The operators and management company of a Holiday Inn Express in Simpsonville, S. C., will pay $90,000 to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced Monday.

The agency had charged that the defendants, Imperial Investments Greenville, Inc. and Imperial Investments Group, Inc., violated federal law by subjecting several female employees to a sexually hostile work environment at the hotel. The lawsuit further charged that one woman was unlawfully fired in retaliation for complaining about the sexual harassment. Such alleged actions violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, and retaliation.

According to the EEOC’s suit, the defendants maintained a sexually hostile working environment for Tamara Byrd, Pamela Kral, and Billie Jones. More specifically, the complaint alleged thatIn addition to $90,000 in monetary damages to be split among the harassment victims.

For more:  http://thejobmouse.com/2012/07/05/simpsonville-hotel-to-pay-90000-to-women-subjected-to-sexual-comments-propositions-and-touching-by-male-supervisor/

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by | July 4, 2012 · 1:23 am

Hospitiality Industry Security Risks: Ohio Hotel Employees Accused Of Raping Two Women Guests In Hotel Room

The 44- and 45-year-old women reported being raped by both men after returning to their room from a party. The indictment states that the women were vaginally raped while they were impaired and unable to resist or consent.

A Hampton Inn security guard and a valet are accused of raping two women May 13 in the women’s hotel room. Solomon Baba, 23, of Cleveland, and Kevin Kozieracki, 37, of Middleburg Heights, are charged with rape, kidnapping and burglary.

Baba, the valet, is being held on a $100,000 bond, while Kozieracki, is being held on a $250,000 bond. They are due back in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court for a hearing Thursday.

For more:  http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/07/hampton_inn_security_guard_and.html

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by | July 2, 2012 · 7:38 am

Hospitality Industry Employment Risks: Indiana Restaurants Fined For Child Labor Law Violations Involving Break Regulations

If a minor age 14-17 works six or more hours in a shift, an employer is required to give the minor one or two breaks totaling at least 30 minutes. Hour violations occur when a minor works past the legally defined deadline for the minor’s age.

In most cases, minors may not work during school hours, from 7:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., on school days. While 16- and 17-year-olds may work during school hours with written permission from the school, there is no such exemption for 14- and 15-year-olds.

Five East Central Indiana restaurants have been fined within the past year for repeat violations of child labor laws.

The Ponderosa Steakhouse in Portland received the biggest penalty, $2,200, after its third violation in a year of break regulations involving minors.The restaurant also was fined $400 for hour violations involving two minors.

Modern child labor laws serve a dual purpose based on their roots in compulsory education, according to the Indiana Department of Labor. The first is to make certain that young people pursue education, and the second is to protect young workers from suffering injury, illness or death in the workplace.

One East Central Indiana employer received a warning for employing a minor in a hazardous/prohibited occupation following a workplace fatality.

The labor department gives employers an opportunity to protest violations within 30 days of being notified of a fine. Several restaurants received warnings for employing minors during school hours but were not fined because it was a first offense.

For more:  http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20120702/NEWS01/307020015

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by | June 29, 2012 · 7:07 am

Hospitality Industry Employee Risks: Illinois Restaurant Sued For $50,000 By Guest Claiming "Battery And Negligence" After Employee Assault

“…(restaurant employee) came from behind  the pick-up counter to attack Shears, “violently pushing her the glass front  door causing the glass door to shatter” and severely injure Shears’ leg,  according to the suit…Shears is suing (employee) and the restaurant for battery and negligent and  intentional infliction of emotional distress…”

A woman is suing a Chicago restaurant and its employee for  $50,000 after she claims she was violently thrown through a glass door for  requesting extra packets of sauce.

A lawsuit filed this week in Cook County Court states the incident happened  after Chicago resident Tiawanda Shears placed a to-go order at the New China Wok  Limited, at 752 W. Garfield Blvd., on May 14. 

After receiving her food, Shears noticed the order contained  only one sauce packet and “politely” asked employee Hui Tian Wu for more sauce,  according to the lawsuit.

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by | June 28, 2012 · 6:36 am

Hospitality Industry Health Risks: Oregon Restaurants Fight New Rule Requiring Cooks To Wear Gloves Before Touching Food; Hand-Washing Practices Are Central Concern

“…the Oregon Health Authority’s Foodborne Illness Prevention department said the measure was created to prevent the spread of norovirus, the most common cause of food poisoning. It’s often spread through improper hand washing by employees after they use the bathroom… a 2003 health authority survey in which restaurant inspectors found at least one hand-washing violation at nearly two-thirds of Oregon eateries…”

Oregon restaurant owners and chefs recently earned a small victory, delaying by several months a new state rule that could make dining out more expensive, create waste and, despite its good intentions, do little to protect public health.

The rule, initially set to take effect Sunday, would require cooks to wear gloves or otherwise avoid touching food with their bare hands. But restaurant owners argued the requirement won’t prove safer than the state’s current rigorous hand-washing practices — and the science seems to back them up.

At least a half-dozen recent studies have concluded the same: Counterintuitively, wearing gloves does little to prevent the spread of bacteria compared with effective hand washing. Wearing gloves has been found to reduce the number of times people wash their hands, while warm, moist conditions create a hothouse for bacteria to grow. A 2005 report from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center that analyzed grilled tortillas found more staph, coliform and other harmful bacteria on the samples prepared by workers wearing gloves.

“Gloves lead to a bulletproof-vest feeling,” said Bryan Steelman, owner of the Mexican eatery Por Que No? and among the restaurateurs leading the charge against the new rule. “Cooks think, ‘I have a glove on. I don’t need to wash my hands.'”

For more:  http://www.oregonlive.com/dining/index.ssf/2012/06/oregon_restaurateurs_fight_new.html

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by | June 24, 2012 · 6:13 am

Hospitality Industry Employment Risks: Missouri Restaurant Settles "Sexual Harassment" Lawsuit With EEOC; $23,000 Payment And Employee Training Part Of Settlement

The victim will receive the payment and the training will be for all management and non-managemnt employees at its Galleria location.  Villa Galleria also agreed to report internal complaints of sex harassment to the EEOC for the decree’s 18-month term.

A restaurant in the Galleria will pay $23,000 and provide training against sexual harassment to all employees as the result of a sexual harasssment lawsuit settlement, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The EEOC filed a suit last September that alleged Villa Galleria allowed an employee to be subjected to sexual harassment by an assistant supervisor.  The employee alleged the supervisor tried to put his hands up her skirt and kiss her.

For more:  http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/325114/3/Galleria-restaurant-settles-sexual-harassment-lawsuit

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by | June 13, 2012 · 6:46 am

Hospitality Industry Property Risks: Hawaii Hotel Tree Trimmer Dies After Falling Forty Feet To Pool Deck; Fourth Tree Care Worker To Die In 18 Months

“…the tree trimmer died after falling about 40 feet during work at a Waikiki  resort…he landed on the pool  deck at the Hilton Hawaiian Village…”

Barcelona was the fourth tree trimmer to die in the state since January 2011.  Five died between November 2009 and November 2011, and three between January  2011 and July 2011…according to the state Department of  Labor and Industrial Relations.

The Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health Division will investigate the  death, which the medical examiner’s office said was an accident. Police do not  suspect foul play.

In response to the spate of deaths, the state and the Aloha Arborists  Association held a series of tree care safety workshops on Oahu, the Big Island  and Maui, Kunstman said.

In November, the state recommended penalties of $10,000 for a Maui  landscaping company after an investigation found one of the company’s tree  trimmers fell to his death from a coconut tree while using a rusty line patched  with duct tape. In September, a 71-year-old tree trimmer died after a coconut  tree fell on him in Kailua.

The Kailua company’s owner, Wesley Jay, didn’t immediately respond to a  request for comment. Stasia Barcelona said her son looked up to his boss, who  was very cautious, and dreamed of someday taking over the business.

According to the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, the  company has a valid license in good standing. The hotel extended their  condolences to the family in a statement.

Read more:  http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/jun/12/trimmer-dies-after-fall-from-tree-at-waikiki/#ixzz1xgScV88n – vcstar.com

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by | June 6, 2012 · 7:47 am

Hospitality Industry Employment Risks: California Hotel Settles "Wage And Hour Lawsuit" For $2.5 Million; Over 400% Increase In Collective Actions Filed Nationally Since 2000

The case included allegations claiming that the hotel failed to pay employees for the time spent preparing for work and putting on and taking off uniforms that were required to be left at the hotel. Workers also alleged that they were required to fill out time sheets saying they took breaks whether they did or not.

The Hilton Hotel near Los Angeles International Airport has agreed to pay its workers $2.5 million to settle a  lawsuit alleging that the hotel withheld wages, did not pay overtime and failed to provide meal and rest breaks to about 1,200 workers, union officials said Tuesday.

The suit, filed in 2008, covers all hourly employees who worked at the hotel at 5711 W. Century Blvd. from 2004 to 2011. With more than 1,230 guest rooms, the Hilton Los Angeles Airport is one of the largest hotels in Los Angeles.

Nationally, more than 7,000 collective actions were filed in federal court in 2011 alleging wage and hour violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act, an approximately 400% increase since 2000.

For more:  http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/06/hotel-settlement.html

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