Tag Archives: Hotel Employees

by | August 7, 2013 · 6:22 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Kansas Hotel Group Pays Fired Worker $22,000 In Back Pay And Damages; Filed “Whistleblower Complaint” After Raising Workplace Safety Issues

“…every employee has the right to raise workplace safety and health concerns without fear of retaliation or termination,” said Marthe Kent, OSHA’s New England regional administrator. “When employees are fearful or reluctant to raise these issues with their employers, hazardous conditions could go undetected until employees are injured or sickened…”

http://www.whistleblowers.gov/

http://www.whistleblowers.gov/

“…True North will immediately post the whistleblower fact sheet and OSHA poster, in English and Spanish, in conspicuous locations at all of its work premises nationwide, where they can be seen and read by all employees. It will also provide annual training on whistleblower rights and employer responsibilities to all managers and supervisors and provide training materials to all newly hired or promoted managers.”

As part of an enterprise wide settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor, True North Hotel Group Inc., a hotel management company based in Overland Park, Kan., will pay $22,225 in back wages and compensatory damages to a former employee who was terminated from a Massachusetts location after raising workplace safety concerns. The company will also educate all its managers and notify its employees nationwide about workers’ whistleblower rights under the Occupational Safety and Health Act as administered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

As the story goes, a worker at True North’s Devens Conference Center in Massachusetts was subjected to disciplinary action and then terminated in October 2011 after notifying superiors about safety concerns.

The worker then filed a whistleblower complaint with OSHA, which investigated and found merit to the complaint. True North has elected to settle the matter by taking corrective action.

For more:  http://www.workerscompensation.com/compnewsnetwork/workers-comp-blogwire/17206-hotel-management-co-settles-on-worker-safety-concerns.html

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by | July 31, 2013 · 5:53 am

Hospitality Industry Crime Risks: Florida Hotel Manager Charged With Stealing Over $42,000; Diverted Company Charges To Personal Account

“…According to court documents, (the defendant) ran a scheme in which she made various charges from the company account into six of her Hotel Employee Theftpersonal accounts…part of her duties included checking guests into the hotel and processing cash and credit card payments…from early 2009 to late 2010, authorities say she diverted $42,954.32 from the company account…”

A former employee of a Tallahassee hotel is facing charges she stole more than $42,000 from the business by diverting money onto personal credit cards. Chyrell Martin, 33, a former front desk clerk and manager at the Collegiate Village Inn was booked into Leon County jail on Monday. Martin, of Georgia, is facing charges of grand theft and fraud to obtain property.

Martin, who worked as a manager at the hotel from 2005 to 2010, resigned suddenly in Oct. 2010 after the investigation into the irregularities on the company account began, according to court documents.

She is currently in Leon County jail.

For more:  http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20130730/NEWS/130730007/

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by | July 30, 2013 · 8:15 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: New York Hotel Sued By Employee For “Sexual Harassment” And Physical Abuse; Managers Failed To Intervene

“…(the plaintiff) claims she was the target of unwanted  physical contact and verbal abuse by multiple male co-workers…she contends that when Hospitality Industry Harassment Lawsuitsshe complained, her supervisor did nothing, but her  co-workers became vindictive…”

A kitchen worker has slapped the Grand Hyatt New York with a lawsuit,  claiming managers of the luxury hotel looked the other way while frisky male  co-workers made her work life a living hell. She said one co-worker threatened to hire a hit man to kill her and another  vowed to “beat her up” if they lost their jobs because she complained.

Her lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court, filed Monday, also names her union,  the New York Hotel & Motel Trades Council, as a defendant for failing to  intervene on her behalf.

Her lawsuit names a sous chef who she says walked up behind her and unsnapped  her bra, and another colleague who allegedly walked up behind her and put his  hands in her pants.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/kitchen-worker-sues-grand-hyatt-claiming-sexual-harassment-article-1.1412285#ixzz2aXUxTPs4

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/kitchen-worker-sues-grand-hyatt-claiming-sexual-harassment-article-1.1412285#ixzz2aXUZmaxJ

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by | July 26, 2013 · 5:48 am

Hospitality Industry Theft Risks: Vermont Motel Employee Charged With “Felony Embezzlement” After Stealing $220,000; Cashed Fraudulent Checks In Another Town To Escape Attention

“…(the defendant) is accused of using her position as the part-time bookkeeper for the Shire Riverview motel to divert over $220,000 to her personal use, primarily through a series of checks that were made out to herself and through electronic payments of her own household bills Hotel Employee Theftdirectly from the inn’s bank account…Although the Inn had a computerized QuickBooks system that the DiCarlos said they reviewed periodically, Dorothy DiCarlo wrote that Smith appeared to have defeated it by entering “phony bills” from companies that the inn routinely did business with, paying them, and then at the last moment changing the business name on the payee line of the checks to her name.  DiCarlo said Smith appeared to have cashed all of the fraudulent checks using a night deposit box at a branch of their bank in another town so as not to bring the unusual checks to the attention of the Woodstock branch which she said might have been quicker to catch the discrepancies…”

A Woodstock woman entered an innocent plea to a single felony count of embezzlement Thursday afternoon before being released from the Windsor County Courthouse in downtown White River Junction on personal recognizance conditions.

Shire Riverview owner Dorothy DiCarlo said she never suspected Smith and instead stumbled on the alleged thefts after she returned from vacation in late March and she was surprised by how low the balances were in the Inn’s operational account. DiCarlo wrote in her statement to police that she started flipping through checks to see what was going on and the very first one she happened to look at was made out directly to Smith for $2,400.

DiCarlo said when she asked Smith why she would need to write a check to herself Smith would not answer her directly and instead kept saying, “I will take responsibility for that check.”

Concerned, DiCarlo said she and her husband Vincent began looking through their business records that evening and quickly found over $50,000 in suspect payments to Smith and to her personal creditors for things like her home cable, propane, and phone bills that appeared to have been paid electronically from the Inn’s bank accounts.

For more:  http://www.thevermontstandard.com/2013/07/motels-ex-bookkeeper-pleads-not-guilty-to-embezzlement/

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by | July 24, 2013 · 5:37 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: North Carolina Hotel Group Settles “Religious Discrimination” Lawsuit With EEOC For $45,000; Refused To Provide “Religious Accomodation” To Employee

“…The EEOC’s suit charged that the hotel group refused to provide Claudia Neal, a Seventh-Day Adventist, with a religious accommodation of not having to work on her Sabbath, which is from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday.  Neal began EEOCworking at the hotel in May 2009.  Initially, Neal’s request not to work on her Sabbath was honored.  However, a change in management occurred in October 2010, and in November of that year, the hotel group refused to provide her with a religious accommodation, and fired her…”

A hotel group which owns and operates the Comfort Inn Oceanfront South in Nags Head, N.C., has agreed to pay $45,000 and provide substantial additional relief to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on religion.  The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Eastern Division (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Landmark Hotel Group, LLC d/b/a Comfort Inn Oceanfront South; Dare Hospitality, LLC d/b/a Comfort Inn Oceanfront South; Jain and Associates, LP d/b/a Comfort Inn Oceanfront South; and JRS Partners, LLC d/b/a Comfort Inn Oceanfront South; Civil Action No. 4:12-cv-158) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

In addition to providing monetary relief to Neal, the hotel group will implement policies designed to prevent religious discrimination and conduct training on anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation laws.  The hotel group will also provide reports to the EEOC regarding future requests for religious accommodation.

“Employers need to understand their obligation to balance the conduct of their business with employees’ needs and rights to practice their religion,” said Lynette A. Barnes, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Charlotte District Office. “Where there is minimal impact on the business, those religious needs must be accommodated.  No person should ever be forced to choose between her religion and her job.”

For more:  http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/7-23-13.cfm

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by | July 16, 2013 · 4:34 am

Hospitality Industry Theft Risks: Florida Hotel Employee Arrested In “Fraudulent Overbilling” Scheme; Over $220,000 In Orders And Fake Bids

“…(the defendant) used her job with the hotel’s management team to allow her husband — who owns two supply firms that outfitted the hotel with items like wallpaper, tiles and carpeting — to overbill for more supplies than were actually ordered….(she) was in charge of purchase Hotel Employee Theftorders for the hotel, and inspected guest rooms for damages to determine what needed replacing…the two went as far as concealing their relationship so as not to arouse suspicion from co-workers or auditors. The 22-page arrest affidavit also claims the couple produced fake bids so it appeared Jorge Maquilon’s companies, Decomax and Emporium Supplies, were the best supply source for the airport hotel. In some instances, the affidavit says, Jorge Maquilon ordered supplies — primarily wallpaper — that the hotel had four years’ worth of in storage…”

A husband and wife hired to oversee the purchase of supplies at the Miami International Airport Hotel were arrested Monday, accused of bilking Miami-Dade County out of $222,000 by jacking up prices and lying about the quantities of items purchased.

Jorge Isaac Maquilon and his wife, hotel employee Ivy Evans-Maquilon, both 54, were taken into custody by Miami-Dade police and charged with a single count of organized fraud and two counts of grand theft. Peruvian nationals, both were required to turn in their passports. They were behind bars at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center late Monday afternoon, with bond set at $60,000 each.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/15/3501584/arrests-made-in-overbilling-probe.html#storylink=cpy

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by | July 12, 2013 · 6:12 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Maryland Hotel Group Sued By EEOC For “Pay Discrimination Based On Sex”; “Female Worker Paid Lower Wages”

“…Despite her years of similar experience at another hotel before she started work at Extended Stay Hotels and her five years of good job EEOCperformance at the hotel, the hotel paid newly hired male employees more money than it paid to Weaver, even though they performed substantially equal work, the EEOC charged. According to the lawsuit, the hotel paid a class of female guest services representatives lower wages than those paid to their male counterparts for performing equal work…”

A leading hotel chain, Extended Stay Hotels, unlawfully paid female employees lower wages than those paid to male employees for performing equal work, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it announced today. According to the EEOC’s suit, Latoya Weaver worked as a guest services representative at the hotel’s Lexington Park, Md., location. Her duties included answering the telephone, making reservations and checking guests in and out.

Such alleged conduct violates the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. HVM L.L.C., D/B/A Extended Stay Hotels, Civil Action No. 8:13-cv-01980) in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Greenbelt Division after first attempting to reach a voluntary pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The EEOC is seeking injunctive relief prohibiting Extended Stay Hotels from paying female employees less compensation than their male counterparts for performing equal work, equitable relief that provides equal employment opportunities for women, as well as lost wages, compensatory and punitive damages and other affirmative relief for Weaver and other similarly situated female employees who were harmed by the hotel’s discriminatory conduct.

“Although we have made great strides in narrowing the wage gap between men and women, this case demonstrates that pay discrimination remains a serious problem in the workplace,” said District Director Spencer H. Lewis, Jr. of the EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office.

EEOC Regional Attorney Debra M. Lawrence added, “It is disturbing that even as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the EPA, some employers persist in paying women less than men for equal work simply because of their gender. The EEOC will take vigorous action to remedy sex-based wage discrimination.”

For more:  http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/7-11-13a.cfm

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by | July 11, 2013 · 5:07 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Kansas Hotel Group Settles “Employee Termination” Lawsuit With Dept. Of Labor For $22,000 In Wages, Damages; “Workplace Safety Concerns Raised”

“…In addition to paying the back wages and compensatory damages to the former employee, True North will expunge all references to disciplinary action and termination from his personnel file and provide a written, neutral job reference, should any prospective Hospitality Industry Termination Lawsuitsemployer seek a reference for the worker…Employers must understand that every employee has the right to raise workplace safety and health concerns without fear of retaliation or termination,” said Marthe Kent, OSHA’s New England regional administrator. “When employees are fearful or reluctant to raise these issues with their employers, hazardous conditions could go undetected until employees are injured or sickened…”

As part of an enterprise wide settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor, True North Hotel Group Inc., a hotel management company based in Overland Park, Kan., will pay $22,225 in back wages and compensatory damages to a former employee who was terminated from a Massachusetts location after raising workplace safety concerns. The company will also educate all its managers and notify its employees nationwide about workers’ whistleblower rights under the Occupational Safety and Health Act as administered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

The worker then filed a whistleblower complaint with OSHA, which investigated and found merit to the complaint. True North has elected to settle the matter by taking corrective action.

Specifically, True North will immediately post the whistleblower fact sheet and OSHA poster, in English and Spanish, in conspicuous locations at all of its work premises nationwide, where they can be seen and read by all employees. It will also provide annual training on whistleblower rights and employer responsibilities to all managers and supervisors and provide training materials to all newly hired or promoted managers.

For more:  http://www.workerscompensation.com/compnewsnetwork/workers-comp-blogwire/17039-employer-faces-heavy-fines-for-terminating-whistleblower-employee.html

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by | June 29, 2013 · 6:00 am

Hospitality Industry Employment Risks: Massachusetts Hotel Manager Charged With Stealing Over $300,000 Over Two Years; Created Fake Employees And Cashed Checks

“…the fake employees would appear on the payroll and receive a paycheck.  Anjanel would then ask another person to cash the checks and that Hotel Employee Theftperson would give all of the money to the defendant…Anjanel would also wire the money to Guatemala, using her own name and also asking others whom she knew to wire the money on her behalf…Over the two year period, Anjanel stole more than $300,000 from the two hotels…”

A Lawrence woman was arraigned Friday on larceny charges for allegedly stealing more than $300,000 from two hotels where she worked as a manager, according to a release from Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan.

Authorities allege that in 2010 when Anjanel was working as the manager of the Residence Inn at 1775 Andover Street in Tewksbury, she was responsible for and had access to hotel finances including payroll and petty cash, as well as the authority to make hiring decisions.

According to the release, Anjanel used her responsibilities as manager to add three employees to the hotel’s payroll. These employees were never on the schedule, and never actually worked at the hotel, according to the release.

For more:  http://tewksbury.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/hotel-manager-charged-with-stealing-from-tewksbury-hotel

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by | June 22, 2013 · 8:38 am

Hospitality Industry Safety Risks: “Safety And Health Among Hotel Cleaners” Report From CDC And National Institute For Occupational Safety And Health (NIOSH)

CDC Hotel Safety and Health Among Hotel Cleaners

CDC Hotel Safety

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