Category Archives: Liability

by | April 17, 2012 · 8:10 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: "Aggressive" Disabled Plaintiff Attorneys "Identify" Hotels And Restaurants Not In Compliance With ADA Laws And Use "People With Disabilities" To File Lawsuits

“…suits were filed by Ben-Zion Bradley Weitz, a lawyer based in Florida, who has a regular group of people with disabilities from whom he selects plaintiffs. One of them, Todd Kreisler, a man in a wheelchair who lives on the East Side of Manhattan, sued 19 businesses over 16 months – a Chinese restaurant, a liquor store and a sandwich shop among them…”

A small cadre of lawyers, some from out of state, are using New York City’s age and architectural quirkiness as the foundation for a flood of lawsuits citing violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act.

The lawyers are generally not acting on existing complaints from people with disabilities. Instead, they identify local businesses, like bagel shops and delis, that are not in compliance with the law, and then aggressively recruit plaintiffs from advocacy groups for people with disabilities.

The plaintiffs typically collect $500 for each suit, and each plaintiff can be used several times over. The lawyers, meanwhile, make several thousands of dollars, because the civil rights law entitles them to legal fees from the noncompliant businesses.

The practice has set off a debate about whether the lawsuits are a laudable effort, because they force businesses to make physical improvements to comply with the disabilities act, or simply a form of ambulance-chasing, with no one actually having been injured.

The suits may claim a host of problems: at a deli grocery in West Harlem, an overly steep ramp without guardrails, high shelves and a narrowing pathway near the refrigerators; at a yogurt shop in the theater district, no ramp, no bathroom doorknob that can be opened with a closed fist and exposed hot water drains under the bathroom sink; at a flower shop on the Upper East Side, no ramp and shelves that are too high.

For more:  http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=939650&f=22

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by | April 16, 2012 · 1:31 am

Hospitality Industry Guest Payment Risks: New Jersey Hotel Is Victim Of $3900 "Theft By Deception"; Two Teens Stay In Room After Pretending To Be Placed By Social Services Agency

Police have determined that 19-year-old Joshua Walton of Barnegat and a 17-year-old girl had stayed in the room. Both were charged with theft by deception.

Authorities say two New Jersey teens pretended to be placed in a motel by a social services agency and then ran up a bill of $3,900.

Long Beach police tell the Asbury Park Press that a woman claiming to work for Ocean County Social Services called a motel last summer and requested a room for a couple and their child.

The motel owner agreed to house them for two weeks, but later learned that the woman who had made the arrangements did not work for the agency.

For more:  http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20120415/NEWS01/204150306/Police-Teens-ran-up-3-900-hotel-bill

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by | · 1:31 am

Hospitality Industry Guest Payment Risks: New Jersey Hotel Is Victim Of $3900 "Theft By Deception"; Two Teens Stay In Room After Pretending To Be Placed By Social Services Agency

Police have determined that 19-year-old Joshua Walton of Barnegat and a 17-year-old girl had stayed in the room. Both were charged with theft by deception.

Authorities say two New Jersey teens pretended to be placed in a motel by a social services agency and then ran up a bill of $3,900.

Long Beach police tell the Asbury Park Press that a woman claiming to work for Ocean County Social Services called a motel last summer and requested a room for a couple and their child.

The motel owner agreed to house them for two weeks, but later learned that the woman who had made the arrangements did not work for the agency.

For more:  http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20120415/NEWS01/204150306/Police-Teens-ran-up-3-900-hotel-bill

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by | April 15, 2012 · 1:31 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: California Hotel Sued For Violating "State Liquor Control Act" By "Over-Serving Alcohol" To Hotel Guest Who Sustained Critical Spinal Injury In Fall

“…The complaint seeks compensatory, punitive and other damages from the Hotel St. Francis and Heritage Hotels and Resorts of Albuquerque, which has managed the hotel since 2008. It says the defendants violated the state Liquor Control Act and other laws by over-serving alcohol to Sherman…”

A California man says in a lawsuit that he is a paraplegic because he was over-served alcohol at the Hotel St. Francis’ bar two years ago, fell down and damaged his spine.  Mike Sherman of Petaluma, Calif., accuses the hotel staff of destroying videos that might show how he ended up with a vertebral fracture at the downtown hotel.

According to a complaint filed April 1 in state District Court, Sherman checked into the St. Francis on April 26, 2010, then went to its Secreto Bar and ran up three tabs totaling $177.97.

By 8 p.m., bar manager Daniel Gonzales determined Sherman was intoxicated, served him one more cocktail and told bar employees that would be his last, yet he was served other drinks later, the complaint says.

By 10 p.m., it says, Gonzales walked Sherman to his room, but later that evening, or early the next day, security guard James Cox found Sherman unconscious and lying on the floor outside two other hotel rooms.  Sherman was taken to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center for emergency treatment of his spinal injury, then transferred back to California for further treatment.

The complaint by lawyers Esteban Aguilar of Albuquerque and Michael Kelly of San Francisco says a lawyer working for Sherman’s partner, Scott Clark, called Steve Caalim, who was then the hotel’s general manager, to ask that he preserve videos or other records relating to the incident.

But Sherman was told that none of the hotel’s several security cameras were working that night, the complaint says, accusing the hotel of having the videos “intentionally destroyed, erased, deleted or otherwise tampered with … to hide, conceal or destroy evidence.”

For more:  http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/Man-sues-hotel-over-spinal-injury

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by | · 1:31 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: California Hotel Sued For Violating "State Liquor Control Act" By "Over-Serving Alcohol" To Hotel Guest Who Sustained Critical Spinal Injury In Fall

“…The complaint seeks compensatory, punitive and other damages from the Hotel St. Francis and Heritage Hotels and Resorts of Albuquerque, which has managed the hotel since 2008. It says the defendants violated the state Liquor Control Act and other laws by over-serving alcohol to Sherman…”

A California man says in a lawsuit that he is a paraplegic because he was over-served alcohol at the Hotel St. Francis’ bar two years ago, fell down and damaged his spine.  Mike Sherman of Petaluma, Calif., accuses the hotel staff of destroying videos that might show how he ended up with a vertebral fracture at the downtown hotel.

According to a complaint filed April 1 in state District Court, Sherman checked into the St. Francis on April 26, 2010, then went to its Secreto Bar and ran up three tabs totaling $177.97.

By 8 p.m., bar manager Daniel Gonzales determined Sherman was intoxicated, served him one more cocktail and told bar employees that would be his last, yet he was served other drinks later, the complaint says.

By 10 p.m., it says, Gonzales walked Sherman to his room, but later that evening, or early the next day, security guard James Cox found Sherman unconscious and lying on the floor outside two other hotel rooms.  Sherman was taken to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center for emergency treatment of his spinal injury, then transferred back to California for further treatment.

The complaint by lawyers Esteban Aguilar of Albuquerque and Michael Kelly of San Francisco says a lawyer working for Sherman’s partner, Scott Clark, called Steve Caalim, who was then the hotel’s general manager, to ask that he preserve videos or other records relating to the incident.

But Sherman was told that none of the hotel’s several security cameras were working that night, the complaint says, accusing the hotel of having the videos “intentionally destroyed, erased, deleted or otherwise tampered with … to hide, conceal or destroy evidence.”

For more:  http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/Man-sues-hotel-over-spinal-injury

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by | April 14, 2012 · 1:49 am

Hospitality Industry Security Risks: Florida Hotel's Video Surveillance System Captures Woman Stealing $700 In Property From Room

“…Surveillance video captured the 5-foot-7 thief, in a blue tank top and jeans  shorts, lugging the stolen TV down a hallway at the Sabal Suites hotel…”

A Florida bandit helped herself to a television, bedspread, curtains, rugs,  trash can, iron and ironing board from a vacant Tampa hotel room. The 10:15 a.m. robbery back on March 21 included several trips back and  forth as the woman stripped the room of about $700 worth of property — leaving  behind only the bed.

The 20-something suspect checked several doors before starting her one-woman  crime spree. The rooms were under renovation at the time of the robbery.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/mini-bar-article-1.1061166#ixzz1rwodYiC9

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by | April 13, 2012 · 1:21 am

Hospitality Industry Employee Risks: California Hotels And Restaurants Are "Not Obligated To Ensure Workers Take Legally Mandated Lunch Breaks"; Unanimous Opinion By State Supreme Court

“…the high court sided with businesses when it ruled that requiring companies to order breaks is unmanageable and those decisions should be left to workers. The decision provided clarity that businesses had sought regarding the law…”

In a case that affects thousands of businesses and millions of workers, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that employers are under no obligation to ensure that workers take legally mandated lunch breaks.

The unanimous opinion came after workers’ attorneys argued that abuses are routine and widespread when companies aren’t required to issue direct orders to take the breaks. They claimed employers take advantage of workers who don’t want to leave colleagues during busy times.

The case was initially filed nine years ago against Dallas-based Brinker International, the parent company of Chili’s and other eateries, by restaurant workers complaining of missed breaks in violation of California labor law.

The opinion written by Associate Justice Kathryn Werdegar explained that state law does not compel an employer to ensure employees cease all work during meal periods. Instead, an employee is at liberty to use the time as they choose, she wrote.

For more:  http://finance.yahoo.com/news/court-managers-dont-ensure-lunch-breaks-181751682.html

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by | · 1:21 am

Hospitality Industry Employee Risks: California Hotels And Restaurants Are "Not Obligated To Ensure Workers Take Legally Mandated Lunch Breaks"; Unanimous Opinion By State Supreme Court

“…the high court sided with businesses when it ruled that requiring companies to order breaks is unmanageable and those decisions should be left to workers. The decision provided clarity that businesses had sought regarding the law…”

In a case that affects thousands of businesses and millions of workers, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that employers are under no obligation to ensure that workers take legally mandated lunch breaks.

The unanimous opinion came after workers’ attorneys argued that abuses are routine and widespread when companies aren’t required to issue direct orders to take the breaks. They claimed employers take advantage of workers who don’t want to leave colleagues during busy times.

The case was initially filed nine years ago against Dallas-based Brinker International, the parent company of Chili’s and other eateries, by restaurant workers complaining of missed breaks in violation of California labor law.

The opinion written by Associate Justice Kathryn Werdegar explained that state law does not compel an employer to ensure employees cease all work during meal periods. Instead, an employee is at liberty to use the time as they choose, she wrote.

For more:  http://finance.yahoo.com/news/court-managers-dont-ensure-lunch-breaks-181751682.html

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by | April 12, 2012 · 1:10 am

Hospitality Industry Information Technology Risks: Hotel And Restaurant "POS Systems" Are The #1 Target Of Criminal Data Breaches

If a criminal can breach a system in the restaurant, they also have access to the front desk, the spa and any other connected system. The risk is even greater when hotels are part of a hotel chain with interconnected systems.

Franchise businesses are particularly at risk primarily because franchises tend to have the same POS system duplicated at all locations. If a cybercriminal can figure out a way to breach one, in all likelihood, they can replicate the attack at other locations.

In 2011, Trustwave SpiderLabs conducted 42 percent more data breach investigations than in the previous year. More than 85 percent of these data breaches occurred in the food and beverage, retail and hospitality industries.

Why the focus on these industries? There are several reasons, but the number one is that they all process credit cards. In our investigations, we found that the vast majority of assets targeted by criminals were point-of-sale software systems (75 percent of cases). Think of the scenario of a hotel that maintains a restaurant, a spa, as well as other services all connected to one POS system.  We’ve investigated cases where the criminal breaches the environment at one location and was in turn able to connect todozens of others through the wide area network used by the hotel chain.

For more:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2012/04/11/restaurants-beware-hackers-want-your-customer-data/

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by | · 1:10 am

Hospitality Industry Information Technology Risks: Hotel And Restaurant "POS Systems" Are The #1 Target Of Criminal Data Breaches

If a criminal can breach a system in the restaurant, they also have access to the front desk, the spa and any other connected system. The risk is even greater when hotels are part of a hotel chain with interconnected systems.

Franchise businesses are particularly at risk primarily because franchises tend to have the same POS system duplicated at all locations. If a cybercriminal can figure out a way to breach one, in all likelihood, they can replicate the attack at other locations.

In 2011, Trustwave SpiderLabs conducted 42 percent more data breach investigations than in the previous year. More than 85 percent of these data breaches occurred in the food and beverage, retail and hospitality industries.

Why the focus on these industries? There are several reasons, but the number one is that they all process credit cards. In our investigations, we found that the vast majority of assets targeted by criminals were point-of-sale software systems (75 percent of cases). Think of the scenario of a hotel that maintains a restaurant, a spa, as well as other services all connected to one POS system.  We’ve investigated cases where the criminal breaches the environment at one location and was in turn able to connect todozens of others through the wide area network used by the hotel chain.

For more:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2012/04/11/restaurants-beware-hackers-want-your-customer-data/

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