[vimeo http://vimeo.com/69501224]
Petra Risk Solutions’ Director Of Human Resources, Sharyn Maldonado, PHR , offers a P3 Hospitality Risk Update – ‘New I-9 Documents’.
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.
Comments Off on P3 Hospitality Industry Risk Report: “New I-9 Documents” By Petra Risk Solutions’ Director Of Human Resources Sharyn Maldonado, PHR
Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
“…The area where the chemicals were mixed (was) isolated…one of the two chemicals was muriatic acid (and) the other chemical was 
chlorine (that) were mixed by an employee of the hotel by accident, creating the strong fumes that affected the employees and guests…One of the 12 transported by EMS was an employee of the hotel, but the other eleven were guests. An additional six people were treated at the hotel, but did not require further medical attention…”
The overnight nursing supervisor at Grand Strand Regional Medical Center confirmed all 14 patients who were being 
treated for respiratory issues following an accidental chemical mixture have been discharged from the hospital. Bob Derr, a Battalion Chief with the City of Myrtle Beach Fire Department confirmed the Hazmat situation was reported after two chemicals were mixed together in the pool maintenance area under the hotel the Landmark Resort at 1501 South Ocean Boulevard, affecting both guests and employees.
Twelve people have been taken to Grand Strand Regional Medical Center by EMS, and two more drove themselves. All 14 were presenting respiratory issues. Battalion Chief Derr suggested more guests could be transported if they started to show signs of respiratory distress.
Crews did not evacuate the hotel completely. The lower floors were cleared as a precaution.
For more:Â http://www.wistv.com/story/23509101/crews-respond-to
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Filed under Guest Issues, Health, Injuries, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Pool And Spa, Risk Management, Training
“…(the employee, Sheila Silver, was) a member of the Pentecostal church (and believed) women should wear skirts in accordance with this 
religious 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:Â http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/9-19-13c.cfm
Comments Off on 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
Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training
“…(the suspect) was the director of security — and according to his wife the fire safety director —- for the Yotel hotel near Times Square (and) 
set 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.
Comments Off on 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
Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership
“…software that can isolate POS activity not in compliance with performance standards and that is integrated with accompanying video 
provides 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:Â http://www.fastcasual.com/article/219487/Using-technology-to-stop-restaurant-theft
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Filed under Crime, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Technology, Theft
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Filed under Injuries, Insurance, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training
“…on the second-floor of the motel, the officer saw a man sitting outside his hotel room cutting up batteries…the officer asked him what he was 
doing and, at the same time, noticed the door ajar and some fumes or vapors coming out of the door…(he) pushed the door open and a larger cloud of vapors came out…the man cutting the batteries had been cooking methamphetamine in his room, police say…”
A motel guest cutting up batteries outside his room stirred the suspicions of a Sunset Hills police officer, who uncovered a meth lab at the EconoLodge early today.
The officer, overcome by fumes, was taken to a hospital after complaining of being lightheaded. And all of the remaining motel guests in the entire east wing of the motel were evacuated by police and firefighters for about three hours early Thursday until the mobile meth lab was removed.
A man in his 30s was arrested on suspicion of drug manufacturing. “He was apparently trying to do this with the shake-and-bake method,” LeGrand said, referring to the mobile method of making the drug. “But he forgot some ingredient and, because of that, he decided to heat some of this mixture in the microwave.”
The guests who were evacauted from the hotel after midnight were allowed to return to their rooms at about 3 a.m. after the county’s drug unit removed the materials.
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Crime Risks: Missouri Motel Evacuated After “Meth Lab” Discovered In Room; Suspect Was “Cutting Up Batteries” Outside Door
Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
“…The complaint claims that (the restaurant owner) knew the glass doors were unsafe, and, “despite owning and operating the restaurant and premises for decades … never even attempted to make the plate glass entrance door even marginally safer, such as 
through the application of widely available safety films that are applied to glass and cost only a few dollars per square foot of coverage…(the victim)Â allegedly suffered several cardiac arrests and was pronounced dead at 2:03 p.m. due to “penetrating injuries to the neck leading to acute hemorrhagic shock.””
A widow blames hazardous plate glass for the death of her retired college professor husband who badly cut his throat on the shattered door of a sandwich shop.
Plate glass, also known as annealed glass, “constitutes a well-known safety hazard when broken because such glass can break into large, sharp and unreasonably dangerous jagged shards if impacted,” according to the complaint in Butler County, Pa.
Laminated or tempered glass is safer because it “fractures into small relatively harmless cubes that are less likely to cause significant injury,” the complaint adds. Cynthia Brunken sued Bob’s Sub and Sandwich Shop, located in Slippery Rock Commons, and its owner Cindy Marlowe for wrongful death.
A national standard was officially recognized in 1966 and an act was created in Pennsylvania “Requiring the Use of Safety Glazing Materials.”
“Despite the known and obvious risks involved with the use of plate glass or annealed glass entrance doors, the glass entrance door used at the Bob’s Sub and Sandwich Shop restaurant on June 3, 2013 contained dangerous plate glass or annealed glass, and did not incorporate adequate or safer glazing material, rendering the glass door unreasonably dangerous to customers, business invitees and specifically, Glen W. Brunken,” according to the complaint.
For more:Â http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/09/18/61234.htm
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Safety Risks: Pennsylvania Restaurant Owner Faces “Wrongful Death Lawsuit”; Man Suffered Cuts, Cardiac Arrest After Falling Thru “Plate Glass Door”
Filed under Guest Issues, Injuries, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
“…(the plaintiff) blames the restaurant for causing her injuries, saying its employees negligently allowed a puddle of water to remain on its 
premises, failed to remove the puddle, failed to reasonably inspect the premises and failed to properly manage the restaurant…In addition to her injuries, (she) became sick, lame, disordered and disabled; experienced pain and suffering; incurred medical costs; and suffered disability and disfigurement, the suit states. She also lost earnings and wages, the complaint says…”
A woman claims suffered left knee and leg injuries after she fell on a puddle of water at a Mexican restaurant. Andrea B. Mercer filed a lawsuit Aug. 29 in Madison County Circuit Court against Chivas doing business as Carisilos Mexican Restaurant. In her complaint, Mercer alleges she was eating at Carisilos, which is located at 1978 Vandalia St. in Collinsville, on Sept. 3, 2011, when she fell on a puddle of water in the restaurant.
In her complaint, Mercer seeks a judgment of more than $50,000, plus costs and other relief the court deems just.
Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Illinois Restaurant Sued For “Negligence” By Woman Who Slipped In Puddle Of Water; Seeking $50,000 For “Leg Injuries, Pain And Suffering”
Filed under Guest Issues, Injuries, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
“…About two months after she began working there, the KFC’s 54 year-old store manager began making unwelcome and offensive comments and 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…Â 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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Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training
