Tag Archives: Guilty Verdict

by | October 30, 2013 · 6:01 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: New York Restaurant Found Guilty Of “Anti-Semitic Harassment”; Ordered To Pay $900,000 To Former Deliveryman

A New York restaurant deliveryman was awarded a $900,000 jury verdict for  enduring 16 years of anti-Semitic harassment by three Hospitality Industry Harassment Lawsuitssupervisors…(who) called him a “dirty Jew” and threw pennies at him while making  anti-Semitic comments; they also docked his tips.

A deliveryman for New York’s Manhattan  restaurant Mangia 57 has won a $900,000 jury verdict for the anti-Semitic  harassment he endured while working at the establishment. According to the lawsuit, night shift manager Artur Zbozien often “passed  gas” in front of Adam Wiercinski and said it was Zyklon B, the poison German  Nazis used to exterminate Jews during the Holocaust, the New York Post reported.

Mr. Wiercinski endured the abuse for  16 years because “he was 50 years old,” his lawyer said. “He said, ‘Who else is  going to hire a 50-year-old delivery man?’ He was afraid.”

The jury reached a verdict in just four hours after hearing much of the  testimony in Polish — used by many of the restaurant’s employees, the Post  reported.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/28/jewish-man-awarded-900k-employers-anti-semitism/#ixzz2jDH9AcJ0

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by | August 7, 2012 · 6:37 am

Hospitality Industry Theft Risks: Former Pennsylvania Hotel Manager Pleads Guilty To Stealing $52,000 During Two Year Period

He was charged with stealing from the Wingate Inn in Unity Township from April 2007 to August 2009 — which he managed while also serving as mayor — before he left to buy a competing business, the Mountain View Inn.

The former mayor of Latrobe has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges that he stole about $52,000 from hotel restaurant where he worked and will serve two years’ probation after paying back the money.

Forty-two-year-old Thomas Marflak was charged by Westmoreland County detectives in September 2010, a few months after finishing a four-year term as the first Republican mayor in Latrobe since 1965.

Marflak has claimed the money he spent using hotel credit cards was for legitimate expenses, not his own use, but pleaded guilty Friday to avoid trial and possible prison time on felony charges.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Ex-mayor-pleads-guilty-to-theft-from-W-Pa-hotel-3765751.php#ixzz22s3DAuN6

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by | December 28, 2011 · 6:26 am

Hospitality Industry Liability Risks: Hawaii Hotel Is Found "Liable" In "Slip-And-Fall Accident" As State Supreme Court Rules "Known Or Obvious Danger" Defense Not Viable

“…Michele R. Steigman sought to recover damages after suffering a slip-and-fall accident while she was a guest of Outrigger Enterprises’ Ohana Surf Hotel….The case went to trial, and a jury found that Outrigger was not negligent…”

“… in Hawaii, the known or obvious danger defense is no longer viable as a complete bar to an injured plaintiff’s claim in the context of premises liability.”

The Hawaii Supreme Court has ruled the “known or obvious danger” defense is no longer viable under state law as a complete bar to an injured plaintiff’s premises liability claim. Steigman’s appeal to the Intermediate Court of Appeals resulted in an affirmation of the trial court’s final judgment.

Steigman’s attorneys argued that the ruling goes against a comparative negligence law passed by Hawaii’s legislature in 1969 and modified several times.

The statue states: “Contributory negligence shall not bar recovery in any action by any person or the person’s legal representative to recover damages for negligence resulting in death or in injury to person or property, if such negligence was not greater than the negligence of the person or in the case of more than one person, the aggregate negligence of such persons against whom recovery is sought, but any damages allowed shall be diminished in proportion to the amount of negligence attributable to the person for whose injury, damage or death recovery is made.”

Therefore the court ruled the traditional “known and obvious danger defense” conflicts with that statute.

“Steigman contends that the traditional known or obvious danger defense conflicts with the Legislature’s intent behind the comparative negligence statute. We agree,” the court stated in its ruling.

For more:  http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2011/12/27/228806.htm

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by | December 27, 2011 · 6:56 pm

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: New York Hotel Found Guilty Of Fostering A "Hostile Environment" For A Black Employee In Racial Discrimination Lawsuit

“…He was the only black employee in that department, the suit said, and several other mechanics and supervisors frequently used a racial epithet when he was around, apparently in an effort to cause him discomfort…The suit contended the hotel’s management at favored white and Hispanic workers over African-Americans…”

On Friday a jury, after issuing a verdict in Mr. MacMillan’s favor, awarded him $125,000 in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages.

Freddrick MacMillan, who has worked at the hotel in various capacities since 1990, sued in Federal District Court in Manhattan in 2009, saying he had been subjected to a hostile environment.

 Mr. MacMillan, who is African-American, said several co-workers habitually referred to him as “boy” and used a racial epithet, and one of them used a noose to hang a doll with a black face from a bulletin board in a supervisor’s office.

For more:  http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/16/millennium-hotel-loses-racial-harassment-suit/

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by | October 15, 2011 · 5:22 am

Hospitality Industry Liability Risks: Arizona Hotel Found Guilty Of "Negiligence" On Appeal In Death Of Guest As Judges Find "Intended Use Of Stairway Required Center Handrail"; Carpet "Camouflaged" Dangerous Condition

“…An expert for the family testified that construction plans for the hotel, as well as its floor plan, depicted a center handrail where Volner fell… The expert also said that based on the intended use and width of the stairway, as well as applicable city building codes, a center handrail was required…”

“…the pattern on the carpet “camouflaged’’ the stairs, exacerbating the dangerous condition created by the lack of a handrail…”

The state Court of Appeals has upheld a $2.4 million verdict against a Tucson hotel where a woman tripped, fell down the stairs and died.

In a unanimous ruling, the judges rejected arguments by the owners of the Viscount Hotel that evidence of subsequent injuries is irrelevant to whether the business was negligent in this specific incident. They also brushed aside claims by the attorneys for the hotel that such evidence was prejudicial and would unfairly sway jurors against the business.

 Court records show that 78-year-old Harriet Volner was at the hotel in 2007 to have breakfast with friends when she fell at the stairs leading into the hotel’s atrium. She hit her head, went into a coma and died five days later after being taken off life support.

Her four children sued. A jury issued a $3 million judgment. But jurors concluded that Volner was 20 percent liable for her own injuries, reducing the verdict to $2.4 million.

A former hotel employee said there had been a center handrail but it had been removed and the carpeting changed. And an expert witness hired by the hotel agreed that the building code required a center handrail and it was a violation to have removed it.

For more:  http://www.ahwatukee.com/news/valley_and_state/article_a9ac7f01-7345-5d2f-8ebd-89ae0aa1271e.html

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Filed under Claims, Guest Issues, Injuries, Insurance, Liability, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training

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by | March 15, 2011 · 2:57 pm

Hotel Industry Employee Risks: New York Hotel Employee Convicted Of Raping Guest And Civil Suit Seeks Damages For "Negligent Hiring, Supervision And Training"

A tourist filed a suit on Monday against a New York hotel where she was raped by an employee.

Her Manhattan federal court suit is seeking unspecified damages from the corporate parent company Surrey Hotel Associates for the allegedly negligent hiring, supervision and training of Jaime Marin Lopez Mendoza.

The victim’s holiday nightmare happened two days after Christmas in 2009. She was attacked at about 3am while sleeping in her room in the Dream Hotel on West 55th Street. He was convicted of first-degree rape in January and received a 15 year prison sentence.

Mendoza struck after helping the stumbling woman and her boyfriend into their room following a night of drinking, the New York Post reports. He ran off when she awoke to find him on top of her.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Jill Konviser described the attack as the ‘ultimate example of depravity,’ adding: ‘This crime was not only violent and calculated, but it was a master class in cowardice.’ The victim, who comes from Rhode Island, did not go to the sentencing but wrote a letter which was read out in court.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1366522/Tourist-sues-New-Yorks-Dream-Hotel-employee-raped-her.html#ixzz1GiAlQ223

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