Category Archives: Labor Issues

by | September 23, 2013 · 5:47 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: North Carolina Restaurant Operator Sued By EEOC For “Religious Discrimination”; Fired Woman For Wearing Skirts As Part Of Her Pentecostal Church Beliefs

“…(the employee, Sheila Silver, was) a member of the Pentecostal church (and believed) women should wear skirts in accordance with this EEOCreligious belief…Silver worked for various Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants since 1992.  Scottish Food Systems and Laurinburg KFC Take Home purchased the KFC restaurant where Silver worked in April 2013.  At that time, they informed Silver she must wear pants to work because of their dress code policy.  Silver told Scottish Food Systems and Laurinburg KFC Take Home she could not wear pants because of her religious beliefs.  The companies ultimately fired her for refusing to wear pants to work…”

Scottish Food Systems, Inc. and Laurinburg KFC Take Home, Inc., two North Carolina corporations that operate a chain of Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants in eastern North Carolina, violated federal law by failing to accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs and firing her because of her religion, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in an employment discrimination lawsuit filed today.

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which requires employers to reasonably accommodate an employees’ due to their religious beliefs as long as doing so does not pose an undue hardship.  The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina (EEOC v. Scottish Food Systems, Inc. d/b/a Kentucky Fried Chicken and Laurinburg KFC Take Home, Inc. d/b/a Kentucky Fried Chicken, Civil Action No. 1:13-CV-00796) after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement through its conciliation process.  The EEOC seeks back pay, compensatory damages and punitive damages, as well as injunctive relief.

“Employers must respect employees’ sincerely held religious beliefs and carefully consider requests made by employees based on those beliefs,” said Lynette A. Barnes, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Charlotte District Office, which includes the EEOC’s Raleigh Area Office, where the charge of discrimination was filed. “This case demonstrates the EEOC’s continued commitment to fighting religious discrimination in the workplace.”

The EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws prohibiting discrimination in employment.  Further information about the EEOC is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.

For more:  http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/9-19-13c.cfm

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by | September 22, 2013 · 6:20 am

Hospitality Industry Employee Crime: New York Hotel Security Director Arrested For Arson After Setting A Series Of Small Fires In Hallways And Stairwells; “Working Vacation” While Hotel Was Shut Down For Repairs

“…(the suspect) was the director of security — and according to his  wife the fire safety director —- for the Yotel hotel near Times Square (and) Hospitality Industry Employee Crimeset a series of blazes that shut down the building for days, freeing him to get  liquored up on the job in guest rooms, FDNY sources said…(he) would light newspapers to set the rubbish fires late  at night or early in the morning while he was on duty…No one was injured in the  blazes, but the source said the small fires would also temporarily close the bars and  nightclubs inside…the hotel would then be  shut down for repairs, giving him a working vacation…”

City fire marshals arrested Barbosa, of West New York, N.J., on Friday,  charging him with setting five small rubbish blazes in the hallways, stairwells  and emergency exits at the Yotel on 10th Ave. over the past two years.

Before that, he allegedly set three fires at the Soho Grand Hotel on West  Broadway — where he worked as a security guard between 2009 and 2010 — including  one just before 3 a.m. on New Year’s Day that brought revelers’ celebrations to  an early close.

Wearing a dark navy suit and a white dress shirt, Barbosa was ordered held on  $50,000 bail. Manhattan prosecutors asked for $20,000, but the arraignment judge  upped the request.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/times-square-hotel-security-chief-arrested-setting-arson-fires-sources-article-1.1463370#ixzz2fdA5nlYl

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by | September 21, 2013 · 5:59 am

Hospitality Industry Technology Solutions: New Restaurant POS And Video Integration Software “Flags Questionable Transactions, Events And Conditions” To Reduce Employee Theft

“…software that can isolate POS activity not in compliance with performance standards and that is integrated with accompanying video Restaurant Employee Theftprovides training opportunities and also highlights suspicious activity of a particular cashier or manager…top that off with a video catching an employee in the act and it’s icing on the cake…The cloud-based system, which now has a real-time mobile app to alert  managers when suspicious activity occurs,  gives managers hard data on their employees, said Lori Kittle, CIO of Landry’s, the company behind 40 restaurant brands, including Morton’s, Bubba Gump and McCormick & Schmick’s…”

The National Restaurant Association estimates that internal employee theft is responsible for 75 percent of inventory shortages and about 4 percent of restaurant sales. Three-quarters of employees steal from the workplace at least once, while half steal repeatedly.

Another company specializing in detecting and preventing employee theft is EZConnect, which is used in Subway and Dunkin Donuts units. The platform features the ability to integrate digital video with the POS system as well.

“Suspicious cash transactions can be pinpointed and reviewed quickly, avoiding hours of research on standard digital camera systems,” Michael Starer, CEO of Profit Enhancement Technologies Inc., the company behind EZConnect.

For more:  http://www.fastcasual.com/article/219487/Using-technology-to-stop-restaurant-theft

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by | September 20, 2013 · 5:39 am

Hospitality Industry Insurance Solutions: “Hospitality Workers’ Compensation Fundamentals” By Brad Durbin Of Petra Risk Solutions

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Petra Risk Solutions Education Partners

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by | September 16, 2013 · 8:03 am

Hospitality Industry Technology Solutions: Hotel “Housekeeper” App For Smartphones And Tablets Improves Staff Efficiency; “Room Status And Problems” Reported Directly To Property Management System

“…the new ‘Housekeeper’ application is proven to deliver an average 50% reduction in the time required to carry out housekeeping and hotel Hotel Technology Solutionssupport tasks, enhanced staff communication, as well as powerful reporting capabilities…with quicker response and improved communication with the housekeeping staff we are able to better serve our guests and get a real-time picture of the room status…”

Building on its growing range of mobile applications and cloud-based services, Housekeeper provides an alternative to Quadriga’s established, fixed TV-based housekeeping solution, integrated into its Sensiq guest communications and entertainment platform. The Hibox Housekeeper application is a web-based service which can be hosted in the cloud and provides hotel staff with easy and immediate reporting capabilities via most web-enabled mobile devices. Services include the reporting of room status to the hotel PMS, minibar usage and rooms fault reporting and management, as well as a staff messaging tool.

Housekeeper is already deployed in hotels across the Nordic region and is now available worldwide. Juha Peltonen, Hotel Manager at Hotel Haikko Manor, Porvoo, Finland, says, “The Housekeeper application gives us an easy-to-use tool to manage the housekeeping tasks. Also we are able to reduce the housekeeping costs with improved monitoring and reporting.”

For more:  http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4062156.html

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by | September 15, 2013 · 5:34 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Tennessee Restaurant Sued For “Sexual Harassment And Retaliation” By EEOC; Manager Made “Offensive Comments, Physical Contact” With Teenage Worker

“…About two months after she began working there, the KFC’s 54 year-old store manager began making unwelcome and offensive comments EEOCand physical contacts. The EEOC further charges that the company retaliated against the minor by removing her from the work schedule and firing her within weeks after she reported the harassment to other management officials… The lawsuit asks the court to grant a permanent injunction preventing Memphis Foods from engaging in or condoning sexual harassment; and award appropriate back wages, compensatory and punitive damages…”

Memphis Foods LLC, the owner of a Memphis KFC restaurant, violated federal law by subjecting a teenage employee to sexual harassment and retaliation, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced yesterday.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the 16-year-old female worked as a crew member for the KFC restaurant on Winchester Road in Memphis.

Sexual harassment and retaliation for complaining about it violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for Western District of Tennessee, Western Division, (Civil Action No. 2:13-cv-02712) after first attempting to reach a voluntary pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

“Sexual harassment and retaliation in the workplace are always unconscionable, especially when minors are targeted and victimized,” said Katharine W. Kores, director of the EEOC’s Memphis District Office, which serves Tennessee, Arkansas and Northern Mississippi. “This agency considers the protection of minors in the workplace an important priority for eradicating employment discrimination.”

Memphis Foods LLC is an Arkansas limited liability company that owns and operates KFC and Taco Bell Restaurants throughout the greater Memphis area. Overall, the company operates more than 60 restaurants in Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri.

The EEOC recently updated its Youth@Work website (at http://www.eeoc.gov/youth/), which presents information for teens and other young workers about employment discrimination. The website also contains curriculum guides for students and teachers and videos to help young workers learn about their rights and responsibilities in the workforce.

The EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws that prohibit employment discrimination. Further information is available at www.eeoc.gov.

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by | September 14, 2013 · 1:37 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Immigration And Customs Enforcement (ICE) Employment Audits Targeted Restaurants (38%) In 2012; “Silent Raids” Force Workers To Lose Jobs, Large Fines For “Paperwork Errors”

“The administration appears to start with the presumption that employers are not telling the truth about their listed employees…”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement“…(an Ohio) restaurant was audited in early 2012. No undocumented workers were found…but paperwork errors resulted in a $27,500 fine, which didn’t get reduced. The company paid another $7,500 to have an immigration attorney handle the case and review the I-9 forms of the other 13 restaurants to make sure they were filled out correctly…”

“In late 2010, (a national restaurant) chain lost about 450 Minnesota workers, between 30% and 40% of its employees there…Last year, the burrito chain announced it was under federal investigation over possible criminal securities law violations related to communications to investors of work-authorization compliance. The company has said it is cooperating fully with the investigation…”

The U.S. government has launched a fresh crackdown on employers suspected of hiring illegal immigrants by notifying about 1,000 businesses across the country in recent weeks they must submit documents for audits. The so-called “silent raids” are the largest since July 2009 when just as many companies were notified, according to immigration attorneys, and weren’t publicly disclosed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that conducts such inspections.

While the audits don’t lead to the deportation of a firm’s illegal workers, they lose their jobs if discovered. Critics of the crackdown say it drives more immigrants to eploitative, off-the-books work. For employers, the audits can lead to deep losses in productivity, in addition to civil and criminal fines, and many workers end up getting hired by competitors.

For more:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324755104579071331936331534.html

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by | September 13, 2013 · 5:19 am

Hospitality Industry Health Hazards: Hotel Owners Must Be Aware Of Risks From “Naegleria Fowleriis”, Known As “Brain-Eating Amoeba” In Warm Fresh Water On Or Around Their Premises

HospitalityLawyer.com“…Hotel owners and operators must be aware of potential N.fowleri hazards in bodies of water on or around their premises. If you offer guests access to recreational bodies of warm fresh water, we recommend making N.fowleri informational brochures available at your front desk; you may even consider providing complimentary nose plugs. Of course, it is absolutely essential that you keep all swimming pools and hot tubs properly chlorinated. Don’t assume that the water in hot tubs and/or hot springs is sufficiently hot to kill N.fowleri; the amoeba can survive temperatures well in excess of 115°F (46°C) for short periods of time…”

Naegleria Fowleri Amoebic Meningitis RiskNaegleria fowleriis an amoeba common to warm bodies of fresh water, including lakes and unchlorinated or poorly chlorinated swimming pools. This amoeba can infect the human nervous system and induce a lethal form of encephalitis when a victim insufflates contaminated water deep into the nasal cavities; while infection is relatively rare, only one percent of all victims survive. This parasite has made the news in recent years with the moniker “brain-eating amoeba” because it feeds on the proteins that help form neurons in our brains.

HospitalityLawyer Converge Solutions

http://hlconverge.com/

Both travelers and hotel owners/operators need to understand the conditions that encourage N.fowleri infection, as this amoeba presents a significant health hazard and a potential liability. N.fowleri thrives in warm fresh water; it cannot survive in very cold, salty, or properly chlorinated water. Infections typically occur in stagnant bodies of water, often after swimmers have stirred up sediment (which contains N.fowleri spores), and usually involve an activity like jumping, diving, or wakeboarding. In 2012, two people in Louisiana died from N.fowleri infection after using contaminated tap water with their neti pots. Death almost always occurs one to twelve days after infection.

This past summer, a four year-old boy in Bernard Parish, Louisiana, died of PAM (primary amebic meningoencephalitis, the extremely lethal result of N.fowleri infection) after playing on a Slip ‘n Slide. A twelve year-old boy in LaBelle, Florida, died of PAM after kneeboarding in a water-filled ditch near his home. One very lucky twelve year-old girl from Arkansas managed to survive an N.fowleri infection, making her the third survivor in the recorded history of the disease.

For more:  http://hlconverge.com/

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by | September 10, 2013 · 6:16 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Florida Hotel Violated Federal Wage & Labor Laws By Creating “Employment Relationship” By “Directly Supervising” Staffing Company Employees

“…investigators determined that the hotel was liable for repayment of back wages because hotel staff had directly supervised those employed Hospitality Industry Wage Violation Lawsuitsby the staffing agency, creating what Young referred to as “joint employment relationship”…generally the using company tries to avoid the responsibility of the employers by staying out of the direct supervision of the employees or payment…however, we found there was enough direct supervision by Castillo Real employees on the staffing company’s employees to then create an employment relationship…Based on that relationship the hotel was found liable for the repayment of back wages…”

The U.S. Department of Labor found that two-thirds of the staffing companies that provide employees to north Florida’s hospitality industry investigated as part of a new initiative were not in compliance with federal wage and labor laws.

According to a DOL release, the hotel will pay $17,890 in back wages after it was discovered that employees provided by staffing company Maja LLC regularly were not paid overtime after working more than 40 hours a week providing services such as housekeeping and laundering. Additionally, some weeks employees’ wages fell below the federally required minimum wage.

Michael Young, district director of the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division’s Jacksonville District Office said the practice of using staffing companies to fill positions formerly managed by hotels themselves is becoming more prevalent across the country. The initiative looking into compliance among staffing companies was undertaken in four of the 10 districts in the Southeast.

For more:  http://news.wjct.org/post/investigation-finds-north-florida-hotels-violated-federal-labor-laws

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by | September 9, 2013 · 6:27 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Missouri Restaurant Operator Ordered To Pay $20.5 Million To Man Permanently Disabled After Beating In Parking Lot; “Failure To Prevent Fight”, Violated “Disruptive Customer Policies”

 “…(the plaintiff) claimed the fast food giant failed to prevent the fight, poorly trained its employees and violated its own policies for dealing Hospitality Industry Injury Lawsuitswith disruptive customers…(the jury) actually returned a $25 million verdict against Jack in the Box after an eight-day civil trial. That was reduced to $20.5 million after the jury found Aziz to be 18 percent at fault for the attack…”

A City Court jury ordered Jack in the Box restaurants to pay $20.5 million to a man who is permanently disabled from a beating in a parking lot 3 years ago.  Ali Aziz, now 35, was beaten unconscious and spent more than a year in a coma after the June 20, 2012 assault. He has permanent brain damage and cannot walk or feed himself, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Aziz, through his mother Annette Brown, sued Jack in the Box in City Court in 2011.  Four people – three men and a woman – pleaded guilty and have gone to prison for it.
Earnest Carter, 22, was sentenced to 12 years in prison; Jasmine Jeffries, 22, to 15 years; Johnnie Lane, 33, to 5 years; and Rwoeshan Booker, 20, to 13 years, the Post-Dispatch reported.

A Jack in the Box spokesman said the company is considering an appeal.

For more:  http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/09/09/60939.htm

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