Category Archives: Liability
Hospitality Industry Risk Solutions: “2014 Hospitality Insurance & Loss Prevention Summit” On February 10 Presented By Petra Risk Solutions
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December 20, 2013 · 6:45 amHospitality Industry Health Risks: Restaurants Must Institute Rigorous Policies To Comply With 2014 FDA “Gluten-Free†Preparation Mandates
“…Done correctly, a (restaurant) cook leaves the line, washes his hands, enters a walk-in and dons a clean apron and gloves. He then assembles the 
pizza on a manufactured crust using tongs and a ladle set aside for that item. Once baked, the pizza is cut with a specific knife on a clean cutting board…He recently had his third-party toppings maker rework its recipes to ensure they were gluten-free…”
Many restaurant chains are instituting rigorous policies for preparing and serving gluten-free offerings as awareness of gluten allergies and intolerance rises.
And while several operators said only about 1 percent to 3 percent of customers request gluten-free items, all insisted that taking extra effort to make such foods safely is good for business — and will keep them in compliance with upcoming mandates from the Food and Drug Administration.
At 60-unit Costa Vida, gluten-free corn tortillas are cooked first thing in morning so the comal can be sanitized and readied for flour tortillas. Corn tortillas are then stored in a closed container and opened only when necessary.
For more: http://nrn.com/health-amp-nutrition/restaurants-tighten-gluten-free-operations
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Hospitality Industry Employment Risks: Florida Hotel Settles Federal “Wage Violation” Investigation For $30,000 In Back Pay; Failed To Maintain Accurate Payroll Records
“Even when an employer contracts with a payroll service company, as this one did, the employer is required by federal labor laws to record and 
maintain accurate records of hours worked by employees. The employer is responsible for submitting accurate data for the preparation of employees’ paychecks,†said James Schmidt, director of the Wage and Hour Division’s Tampa District Office. “It is illegal for an employer to falsify the number of hours worked by employees.â€
The division has noticed the noncompliance in the hospitality industry and is concentrating its resources on investigating and remedying violations, informing workers of their rights and providing compliance assistance to employers. Since 2009, the division has concluded nearly 5,100 cases involving hotel and motel employers, resulting in more than $16.1 million in back wages for more than 30,000 workers nationwide.
Olympia Development Group LLC, doing business as Safety Harbor Resort and Spa in Tampa, has paid 37 employees $30,786 in back wages after an investigation by the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor identified violations at the resort of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime, minimum wage and record-keeping provisions.
The investigation disclosed that management changed employees’ time records, removing hours they had worked before and after their scheduled shifts, and deducting meal breaks, regardless of whether those breaks had actually been taken. These deductions from employees’ timecards, in addition to violating record-keeping provisions, resulted in both minimum wage and overtime violations when hours worked went unpaid.    Additionally, tipped employees were paid in violation of FLSA minimum wage requirements when, in addition to their direct cash wages they received from the employer, they did not collect enough in tips to earn minimum wage, yet the employer failed to make up the difference. Tipped employees were also paid in violation of FLSA overtime requirements when their overtime rates were based on time and one-half their direct cash wages rather than the full minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.
The employer has paid all the back wages found due and has agreed to comply with the FLSA in the future.
The FLSA requires that covered, nonexempt employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, as well as time and one-half their regular rates of pay for hours worked over 40 per week. In general, hours worked includes all time an employee must be on duty, or on the employer’s premises or at any other prescribed place of work, from the beginning of the first principal work activity to the end of the last principal activity of the workday. Additionally, the law requires that accurate records of employee’s wages, hours and other conditions of employment be maintained.
The Wage and Hour Division’s Tampa District Office can be reached at 813-288-1242. Information on the FLSA and other federal labor laws is available by calling the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) or by visiting http://www.dol.gov/whd.
For more: http://www.dol.gov/whd/media/press/whdpressVB3.asp?pressdoc=Southeast/20131210.xml
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Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Labor Issues, Liability, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
Hospitality Industry Crime Risks: Hotels Work With States To Reduce “Sex Trafficking” At Super Bowl Sites; Tens Of Thousands Of Women And Minors Victimized During Annual Event
“…The New Jersey Coalition Against Human Trafficking has taken several steps to raise awareness about the issue, training hotel managers on 
how to detect and address trafficking in their establishments, and holding an informational rally replete with “elected officials, community activists, students, [and] artists.†Efforts like those in New Jersey and Arizona are aimed at duplicating past success at Super Bowl host sites…”
Before Super Bowl XLVI, held in Indianapolis in 2012, efforts from nonprofits and other activist groups helped generate a law making it easier to convict and punish pimps for victimizing people under 16 years of age. Those efforts don’t just fight sex trafficking around the Super Bowl — they also leave in place laws that are effective in limiting the practice long after the game is gone.
The enormity of the Super Bowl provides an ideal setting for traffickers to maximize profits. In Florida, for instance, “tens of thousands of women and minors†were victimized around Miami in 2009. Due to the influx of sports enthusiasts, there are more opportunities for sex solicitation – which pimps capitalize on. Additionally, the number of escort ads multiply closer to game day.
Led by Cindy McCain, the wife of Arizona Sen. John McCain (R), the task force issued 28 recommendations for reducing sex trafficking in the state. The task force, for instance, recommends increased protections for sex trafficking victims who are minors and the recognition of girls as victims in need of help instead of prostitutes. It suggests changing current state law to treat 15-, 16-, and 17-year-old victims of sex trafficking the same way it treats girls who younger than 15. It also suggests increasing penalties for johns and devoting resources to public awareness campaigns to combat the prevalence of sex trafficking.
Anti-trafficking outreach before the annual event is not unique to the Copper State, and advocacy campaigns have produced tangible results around past editions of the Super Bowl. Activists in New York and New Jersey are bracing for Super Bowl XLVIII – which they’ll host in February at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium.
For more: http://thinkprogress.org/sports/2013/12/12/3050121/combating-human-trafficking-arizona/
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Hospitality Industry Employment Risks: New York Restaurants Settle Federal “Wage Violation” Lawsuit For $288,000; Failed To Pay Workers Overtime, Operated “Illegal Tip Pool”
“…The restaurants’ failure to pay them overtime dropped their pay below the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour, the department said. Employees covered by federal minimum-wage and overtime laws must be paid at least 11/2 times their regular hourly wage they when they work more than 40 hours a week…the restaurants operated an “illegal tip pool” in which tipped employees were forced to share their tips with the kitchen staff…”
Two Nassau sushi restaurants and an executive have agreed to pay more than $288,000 to settle federal charges that they “willfully” failed to pay 70 workers minimum wage and overtime, the U.S. Labor Department said.
Xaga Sushi in Merrick and Hewlett, and their president, Mei Yu Zhang, agreed to pay $261,887 in back wages and $26,322 in penalties, the Labor Department announced Monday.
The department contends the restaurants failed to pay the servers, busboys and kitchen staff overtime, even when some employees regularly worked as many as 50 hours a week. Instead, they were paid a flat monthly rate no matter how many hours they worked, the department said.
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Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management
Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: National Restaurant Chain Settles “Age Discrimination” Lawsuit With EEOC For $575,000; “Discriminatory Barriers To Hiring” For Applicants Over 40
Ruby Tuesday, Inc. will pay $575,000 and provide significant equitable relief to settle a class age discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S Equal 
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC alleged that Ruby Tuesday engaged in a pattern or practice of age discrimination against job applicants who were 40 years of age or older at six of the chain’s restaurants located in West Mifflin, Greensburg, Altoona, Du Bois, and Indiana, Pa., and in Beachwood, Ohio, in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA).
The restaurant chain also failed to preserve employment records, including employment applications, as required by the ADEA and EEOC regulations, the EEOC charged in its lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court of the Western District of Pennsylvania (EEOC v. Ruby Tuesday, Inc., Civil Action No. 09-1330).
“This case demonstrates the agency’s ongoing commitment to challenge discriminatory barriers to hiring,” said EEOC General Counsel David Lopez. “Vigorous law enforcement efforts on behalf of older workers are critical to the EEOC’s mission to eradicate barriers to employment.”
EEOC District Director Spencer H. Lewis, Jr. said, “The EEOC is committed to combatting unlawful age discrimination in the workplace and will hold employers responsible if they make hiring decisions based on age rather than the applicant’s ability to do the job.”
In addition to the $575,000 in monetary relief, the three-and-one-half-year consent decree resolving the lawsuit enjoins Ruby Tuesday from engaging in future age discrimination or retaliation and provides substantial non-monetary relief at the affected Ruby Tuesday locations.
Among other things, Ruby Tuesday, Inc. will:
- Implement numerical goals for hiring and recruitment of job applicants age 40 and older at the affected locations;
- Review its job advertisements to make certain they do not violate the ADEA’s prohibitions against age discrimination;
- Conduct audits, including random reviews of hiring decisions, to ensure non-discrimination and compliance with the terms of the consent decree;
- Evaluate the job performance of people with hiring authority for the six stores named in the consent decree and set their compensation (including bonuses), in part, based on their degree of success in helping Ruby Tuesday achieve its goals of ensuring that its recruitment and hiring practices provide equal employment opportunities for people who are 40 or older;
- Designate a decree compliance monitor for oversight of compliance with the requirements of the ADEA and the terms of the consent decree;
- Provide extensive training on the requirements of the ADEA and the consent decree to the decree compliance monitor, human resources personnel and hiring authorities of the six stores named in the consent decree; and
- Report to the EEOC and keep records about its hiring practices and compliance with the consent decree.
Philadelphia Regional Attorney Debra M. Lawrence added, “We are pleased that Ruby Tuesday worked with us to craft a comprehensive settlement that will benefit all employees and applicants. In addition to the monetary compensation for the class members, the extensive training and equitable measures are designed to improve recruitment and hiring of older workers and protect all applicants from age discrimination.”
According to its website, www.rubytuesday.com, Ruby Tuesday, Inc. has nearly 800 company-owned and franchised restaurants and more than 40,000 corporate and franchise team members.
Eliminating barriers in recruitment and hiring, especially class-based recruitment and hiring practices that discriminate against racial, ethnic and religious groups, older workers, women, and people with disabilities, is one of six national priorities identified by the EEOC’s Strategic Enforcement Plan.
The Philadelphia District Office of the EEOC oversees Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia and parts of New Jersey and Ohio. The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the agency is available at its website, www.eeoc.gov.
For more: http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/12-9-13.cfm
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Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training
Hospitality Industry Security Solutions: Hotels Increasingly Providing Dedicated “Women’s Floors”; Increased Security And Amenities For Female Travelers
“…The Crowne Plaza Bloomington in Minneapolis also has a Women’s Floor with additional security features and amenities…The hotel saw a 
need, given that females now make up 47% of the guest population at Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts, says Gina LaBarre, vice president of brand management for Crowne Plaza…”
“…Hotels are responding by setting aside floors with special key access and amenities that women typically prefer…The Naumi Hotel in Singapore has dedicated the third floor, which has nine rooms, to female travelers. Guests have to use a special access card to get in. Amenities include hair straighteners, sanitary products and yoga mats…”
Book a room on the 11th floor of the Hamilton Crowne Plaza here, and you’ll get special bath salts and body products, a magnifying mirror, nail polish, nail files and a curling iron. They’re not exactly the types of amenities that men would go for, but that’s the point.
The Hamilton Crowne Plaza is one of a small, but growing number of hotels offering floors dedicated to female travelers. These hotels are particularly trying to appeal to female business travelers, who are moving up the career ladder and hitting the road more often.
For more:Â http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/hotels/2013/12/08/hotels-women-only-floors/3910931/
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Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Hotels And Restaurants Hopeful Of “Patent Troll Litigation” Relief As Congress Begins Consideration Of H.R. 3309 (The Innovation Act) On December 5
“…(Patent Troll Litigation) threaten(s) litigation if (businesses) don’t pay a licensing fee for their alleged patented technology, but their demands 
are so obscure that it is virtually impossible to determine the validity of the patent claims, or even whether they own the patent in question. When we receive a patent assertion claim, it typically comes in the form of a letter demanding that we pay licensing fees or be taken to court…expenses include the costs associated with hiring outside counsel. In the past two years, our legal costs associated with patent trolls have increased from one-quarter of one percent to nearly twenty percent of our total legal costs…”
H.R. 3309 (The Innovation Act) requires a party alleging patent infringinement to disclose more information than is currently required in its initial pleadings. Speficially, the bill requires a claimaint to identify the patents and claims that are allegedly infringed; and to specify how they are being infringed.
White Castle first opened our doors in Columbus in 1921. Today, our nearly 10,000 team members working in 406 restaurant locations across 12 states deliver the “Taste America Craves.” We remain a family owned business committed to our customers and our communities. Our success has been driven by the principle that good business, great food and responsible citizenship should all go together.
The restaurant industry, with nearly one million locations, is an incredibly competitive industry. We are constantly seeking new ways to provide additional value to our customers and keep them coming back to our restaurants. This includes our online ordering applications to searching for your nearest white castle location on your mobile device.
Unfortunately, there is a rising threat to White Castle and many other companies interested in providing our customers with the experience they want…it’s called a “patent troll.â€Â Now, as you can assume by the name, these patent trolls aren’t your legitimate patent holders or small inventors. These are entities that are created to exploit ambiguities in the patent system to make money off of Main Street businesses.
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Filed under Insurance, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Technology
Hospitality Industry Health Risks: Restaurant Study By CDC Finds “Widespread Risky Food Handling Practices” In Over 50% Of Kitchens; Failure To Follow FDA Guidance On Preventing Cross-Contamination
“…For the chicken study, EHS-Net researchers interviewed 448 restaurant managers. They found that many were not following FDA guidance 
about preventing cross-contamination and cooking chicken properly and that managers “lacked basic food safety knowledge about chicken”…40% of managers said they never, rarely, or only occasionally designated certain cutting boards exclusively for raw meat, and more than 50% said that thermometers were not used to determine the final cooking temperature of chicken. Further, only 43% of managers knew the recommended final cooking temperature…”
A set of studies released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its partners points to widespread holes in restaurant food safety systems, such as risky handling of ground beef and chicken and too-warm shipping temperatures for leafy greens.
Among the key findings, according to the study and a CDC summary:
- Eighty-one percent of restaurants used subjective measures of hamburger doneness, and 49% said they never checked the final cooking temperature
- At least two risky handling practices were seen in 53% of restaurants
- In 62% of restaurants in which workers used bare hands to handle raw ground beef, they did not wash their hands after handling it.
- Only 1% of restaurants reported buying irradiated ground beef, and 29% were unfamiliar with the product
- Chain restaurants and those with managers certified in food safety had safer practices than others.
At the same time, the CDC announced plans for a new surveillance system designed to help state and local health departments identify underlying factors that contribute to foodborne disease outbreaks in restaurants and other food service venues.
The research findings, published this week in the Journal of Food Protection, deal with the handling of ground beef, chicken, and leafy greens and with sick food workers.
For more:Â http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2013/12/cdc-finds-holes-restaurant-food-safety-systems
http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2013/p1202-food-safety-tools.html
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Hospitality Industry Technology Issues: Hotels And Restaurants Face “Privacy Issues” When Guests Wear “Google Glass”; Videotaping Without Permission
“…there are definitely privacy implications for those who wear and use Google Glass in public…People want to go (to restaurants and hotels) and not be known … and 
definitely don’t want to be secretly filmed or videotaped and immediately put on the Internet…as a society, know how to appropriately use our mobile phones, (and) most Google Glass wearers (should) know how to appropriately use them as well…”
In an effort to protect patrons in his restaurant from being photographed or videotaped without permission, Seattle restaurant owner Dave Meinhart  banned Google Glass from one of his restaurants. But last week, Nick Starr, a local early adopter of Google Glass, was kicked out of Dave’s other restaurant, Lost Lake Cafe & Lounge, starting a PR storm by demanding an apology and the firing of the waitress who kicked him out.
In just a few weeks, thousands of people will become the next wave of not-so-early adopters to receive Google Glass. Initially launched in early 2013, Google Glass quickly became a hot topic for tech pundits who questioned its ability to protect privacy, its usefulness, and whether or not it would be as cool as the bluetooth was.
For more:Â http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyclay/2013/12/03/how-to-not-look-like-a-jerk-with-google-glass/
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