Tag Archives: Housekeepers
Hospitality Industry Safety Risks: “Safety And Health Among Hotel Cleaners” Report From CDC And National Institute For Occupational Safety And Health (NIOSH)
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Hospitality Industry Risk Solutions: Hotel Housekeeping Carts Are Now Smaller Leading To Increased Room Security, Less Employee Injuries And Reduction In Amenity And Towel Theft
 “Items are not exposed to people walking through hallways so theft of amenity items or towels is greatly reduced…there’s a safety issue, too…Housekeeping staff would park the larger carts outside and keep the door open while they cleaned…not so with the 
smaller version…the guest comes back and sees the door wide open (and would) think anyone can get in the room…”
“Linen closets (are now) situated closer to the rooms for easy access, eliminating the need for the larger carts. The housekeeping staff has been more productive with the smaller carts because they can move around more quickly, he says. They’re also less prone to injury as the larger carts were heavy to push around…”
Big, rolling housekeeping carts are disappearing from many hotel hallways, just like the floral polyester linens they used to carry. Hotels say they’re replacing cumbersome carts with smaller ones sometimes akin to golf caddie bags out? of necessity, in addition to convenience and even appearance.
Among those saying goodbye to the hall-blocking carts: The Staybridge Suites Times Square in New York, The Ritz-Carlton in Charlotte and the Renaissance Charlotte SouthPark Hotel.
Hotel general managers say there are a number of reasons why smaller is better.
- Hotels don’t use duvets and bulky linens anymore, so there’s no need for large carts, they say. Plus, storage space is at a premium, and smaller carts don’t take up much space.
- The bags are small enough to take into the room and leave the hallways clear and safe. They also don’t nick the walls of elevators and corridors like the large carts did.
- But more important, the guests prefer them, says Rich Hotter, general manager of the Staybridge Suites Times Square.
For more:Â http://www.usatoday.com/story/hotelcheckin/2013/05/10/hotels-housekeeping-carts/2146993/
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Hospitality Industry Health Risks: Tennessee Hotel Housekeepers Hospitalized After “Exposure To Carbon Monoxide” In Basement Laundry Room
“…two housekeepers were in a basement laundry room when they began feeling dizzy and nauseous. One of the house keepers got physically sick…both women were taken to Memorial Hospital Hixson for treatment…”
Two Holiday Inn Express employees fell ill over suspected exposure to carbon monoxide. Officials with the Chattanooga Fire Department say they responded to the Holiday Inn Express on Hixson Pike around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Firefighters evacuated the building. They used gas monitors to check the building and found elevated levels of carbon monoxide. The building was ventilated and aired and deemed safe to return to.
For more:Â http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/21722645/2-motel-employees-fall-ill-after-carbon-monoxide-exposure
Motel management and Chattanooga Gas officials are working to determine what caused the leak and repair it.
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Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Texas Motel Sued By Maid Injured After Slipping Near Leaky Faucet In Break Room
She was walking near the break room area when she slipped and fell in water that had been leaking from a faulty 
sink…The plaintiff is suing for his alleged past and future medical expenses, mental anguish, pain and lost wages, plus all court costs.
Alleging a company failed to post a warning sign of a known danger, a maid is suing the owners of a Super 8 Motel, claiming a leaky faucet near the break room caused her to slip and fall two years ago. Port Arthur local Gricelda Gutierrez filed suit against Triangle Hospitality Inc. on July 27 in Jefferson County District Court.
According to the lawsuit, on July 27, 2010, Gutierrez was working at Triangle Hospitality’s Super 8 Motel in Port Arthur as a housekeeper. Gutierrez claims she was injured in the fall, although the suit fails to state her alleged injuries.
She accuses the defendant of negligently failing to provide her with a safe work area, alleging that the company knew of the leaky facet and did nothing to remedy the unsafe working conditions.
The suit states the defendant failed to post a warning sign of a known danger.
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Hospitality Industry Employment Risks: Federal Lawsuit Alleges Miami Employment Agency Forced Thrity "H-2B Status" Guest Workers To Do Unsanctioned Work As Housekeepers At Florida Hotels
According to the lawsuit, thirty guest workers were brought to Miami by Villanueva, purportedly to work at the W South Beach as housekeepers for $8.28 an hour.
“…(plaintiff) had many of the workers do unsanctioned work for less than minimum wage. He charged the workers “security deposits” ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 Filipino pesos– or $1,200 to $2,350– which they 
would lose if they quit those jobs. He crowded the workers in housing Florida and New Jersey, “on floors, air mattresses, and in hallways”, according to the suit, and in “beds infested with bedbugs.”
According to a new federal lawsuit, the Filipino worker who changed your sheets at W South Beach Hotel, or served you lunch at posh restaurants and country clubs, may have essentially been an indentured servant. Seventeen Filipino immigrants allege that a ring of Miami-based employment agencies charged them outrageous “security deposits,” forced them to work for less than minimum wage and no overtime, and stashed them in overcrowded housing.
In a statement to Riptide, the hotel’s general manager George Cozonis acknowledged that the W had used Villanueva’s workers in the past: “W South Beach does not currently work with Jose Villanueva’s agency, Lincoln Road Employment Advisory Services, to provide staffing to the hotel or any of its affiliated operators. LREAS was used briefly during the opening period of the hotel, but all ties were severed more than 19 months ago.”
Employers such as the W, The Admiral’s Club country club in Jupiter, and the Kiawah Island Club in South Carolina arranged with Villanueva for the workers to immigrate under H-2B status from 2006 to 2009.
For more:Â http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2012/04/miami_employment_agencies_supp.php
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Hospitality Industry Employee Risks: New York City Hotel Housekeeper's To Carry "Security Panic Button" Devices In Wake Of Sexual Assault Case (Video)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KeNcPW_0ig&feature=player_embedded]
Nine months ago a hotel maid accused Dominique Strauss Kahn of sexual assault. The case was dropped but now NYC hotel owners and the union that represents maids wants all housekeepers to carry a security ‘panic button.’
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Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Ten Indiana Hotels Named In "Overtime Lawsuit" Involving Housekeepers And Food Service Staff
 “…to get all the rooms cleaned, she didn’t take lunch breaks or worked past the end of her shift…she estimates she is owed $5,200 for unpaid work over the past two years…”
 “…intends to ask the court to make the lawsuit a class action open to more than 1,000 local hotel employees who worked for Hospitality Staffing during the past three years…”
An attorney representing 14 Indianapolis hourly hotel workers plans to file a lawsuit today alleging their employers failed to pay them for overtime. Ten Indianapolis hotels, including some of the city’s largest, and the staffing company for which the employees worked, Hospitality Staffing Solutions, are named in the prepared complaint. Jeffrey A. Macey, an Indianapolis attorney for the workers, said he plans to file the 24-page document today in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis.
Most of the 14 workers making the allegations were housekeepers or food service staff.
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Hospitality Industry Employee Risks: Texas Hotel Uses Video Cameras To Identify Housekeeper Who Used "Portable Electronic Skimmer" To "Steal Guest Credit Card Numbers"
“…a number of guests who suspected someone had entered their rooms and stolen their credit card information, even though they were still in possession of their credit cards. Charges usually were applied to the credit cards several days after the guests had departed the hotel…”
“…While monitoring the hidden camera’s video feed real-time from the hotel security office, Jose Ramirez observed Margarita Fernandez Abreu remove a small device from her pants pocket and then slide approximately three of the debit cards through the device…”
The Stephen F Austin set up an elaborate ruse to trick a hotel maid into revealing she had stolen the credit and debit card numbers of hotel guests.
 Possible suspects in the case were narrowed down to maid Margarita Abreu, the only employee who had entered the room with an electronic key card. Knowing that, the hotel managers set up a hotel room that appeared to be occupied but wasn’t. A hidden camera was placed in the room that focused on the coffee table and debit cards.
 “Margarita also looked through the purse that was on the table as well. Margarita then concealed the device back in her pocket and continued cleaning the room.” After two detectives viewed the video and identified the object as a “card skimmer” that captured and saved the data. That data could be later downloaded and re-encoded to create “clone” credit cards.
Abreu was arrested on charges of credit card abuse, a state jail felony. Her bail was set at $15,000.
For more:Â http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/crime/video-shows-credit-card-theft
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Hospitality Industry Employee Risks: 61-Year Old California Hotel Housekeeper Arrested For Theft While Cleaning Guest Rooms
“…while she was cleaning she was seen taking a woman’s watch and hide it in the room… she was seen entering the room again and retrieve the watch, conceal it upon her person, and leave the room. It was then the trap 
was sprung and she was detained by security, who also took the watch back from her…”
“…officers arrested this 61-year-old cleaner from Los Angeles, and she was charged with burglary. Her bail was set at $50,000…”
On Friday, Nov. 11, at 12:55 p.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department went to the Fairmont Hotel, located at 101 Wilshire Boulevard, in order to investigate a report of a suspect who was being held at the hotel by their security chief in regard to some allegations of theft. When the officers arrived at the scene they spoke with the Director of Security who told them the detainee was an employee of the hotel.
He said there had been a number of thefts from the hotel rooms reported, and that the person, who was a cleaner at the Fairmont, had become the prime suspect. On the day prior to the officers being called the hotel, security had prepared a room with several items in order to make the room appear occupied by a guest. They had then placed a hidden camera inside the room.
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Hospitality Industry Employee Risks: South Carolina Hotel Maintenance Worker Arrested On Sexual Assault Charges For "Grabbing And Touching" Housekeeper "Inappropriately"
“…The victim…had been cleaning a room when one of the maintenance workers.. entered the room to help her flip a mattress…he walked up to her and began grabbing her breasts and touching her inappropriately…”
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“…Dooley left but then allegedly returned 10 to 15 minutes later and reportedly exposed his genitals to the victim, touching himself…”A Myrtle Beach man is behind bars after allegedly grabbing a co-worker inappropriately and causing her to be fearful of her safety a couple of weeks ago.
According to a police report, Myrtle Beach Police responded to a hotel in the 2700 block of N. Ocean Highway Saturday afternoon in reference to an assault that had taken place on Nov. 9.
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She said she pushed Dooley off of her and told him to stop, and said they would both be fired if anyone saw his behavior. The victim also told police she told him not to touch her like that and told him to leave the room.
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Dooley left but then allegedly returned 10 to 15 minutes later and reportedly exposed his genitals to the victim, touching himself.
The victim told police Dooley said things like “I am hanging to be a white boy” and “I love black Oreos” to her and she became afraid of him, scared he was going to attack her.
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She then went to the head of housekeeping to tell her about what happened and the incident was reported to the hotel’s general manager. According to the victim, Dooley was then suspended from work.
Sunday, officers arrested Dooley and charged him with assault and battery in the second degree as well as indecent exposure.
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