Tag Archives: Legal Issues

by | May 16, 2012 · 6:08 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Woman Sues Illinois Hotel Over Bartender's "Sexual Assault"; Convicted Employee Allegedly Obtained Room Key From Front Desk

“…The lawsuit contends Dabrowski on Oct. 27 spiked the woman’s drink with a “date rape” drug. He allegedly obtained the key to her room from the front desk and then sexually assaulted her as she lay unconscious on her bed in the hotel..”

A Naperville man accused in a federal lawsuit of sexually assaulting a female guest of the Hilton Lisle/Naperville hotel has been convicted of a misdemeanor charge of trespassing in the woman’s room.

Jayson D. Dabrowski, a former bartender at the hotel, has been ordered to serve seven days in the Sheriff’s Work Alternative Program, or SWAP, according to records on file in DuPage County Circuit Court in Wheaton. Dabrowski has also been placed on two years of court supervision, records indicated.

The woman, a resident of Virginia, is seeking more than $75,000 in damages. Her lawsuit is not expected to come to trial for at least a year.

For more: http://napervillesun.suntimes.com/news/12554670-418/man-accused-of-lisle-hotel-sex-attack-found-guilty-of-trespassing.html

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by | May 13, 2012 · 6:51 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Florida Hotel Nightclub Sued For "Racial Discrimination" When Security Guards Refuse To Allow Four Women Inside

Florida civil rights and criminal law attorney David Kubiliun is representing four South Florida women who claim they were not allowed to attend an upscale party the Arkadia Lounge inside Miami Beach’s famous Fountainebleau Hotel because of their race. Kubiliun says a man claiming to be the club’s promoter sent text messages to the women supporting their racial discrimination claims.

Kubiliun claimed it all began when Liz Lopez, Nancy Pierrot, Katuschca Jubuisson and Kat Bing, who are of African-American and Hispanic heritages, said promoter Rodrick Dudley invited them to the nightclub on Saturday, March 17 to celebrate a birthday. Kubiliun said when the group arrived, the club’s doormen would not allow them to enter.

“One security guard told one of the ladies that he didn’t think they were getting in because they are black and they would have to wait,” said Kubiliun. “The women who were well-dressed professionals said they didn’t see any other African-Americans enter the nightclub the entire time the aggravated group stood by in the lobby.”

For more:  http://www.eurweb.com/2012/05/south-florida-women-claim-racial-discrimination-at-fontainebleau-hotel-nightclub/

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by | May 4, 2012 · 10:13 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: California Restaurant Found "40% Liable" In $2.5 Million Jury Award To Woman Who Had "Chicken Bone" Stuck In Her Throat While Eating

“…In a verdict delivered April 26 in Contra Costa County, a jury determined Foster Farms, which supplied the poultry for the chicken strips on the pizza, was 60 percent liable for her injuries and Pizza Bytes, which runs several Round Table restaurants in the San Francisco area, was 40 percent responsible…”

A California jury has ordered a poultry producer and a pizza restaurant franchisee to pay $2.5 million to a woman who got a chicken bone stuck in her throat. Calla Felicity, 59, told the Contra Costa Times damage from the bone has turned her from a healthy woman to someone who becomes completely exhausted after walking two blocks. She said she spent 33 days in the hospital immediately after the injury in 2010 with 11 operations and has been back in the hospital several times.

Felicity was eating a barbecued chicken pizza with her mother at a Round Table restaurant in South San Francisco when the bone got stuck.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2012/05/04/Woman-awarded-25M-for-chicken-bone/UPI-68391336149120/#ixzz1tvRtzM61

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by | April 28, 2012 · 6:18 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: West Virginia Hotel Owner Sued Over "Similar Name" In "Common Law Trademark" Lawsuit

“…The suit also seeks Bhatin to change the hotel’s domain name, hotelmorgantown.com, and to file a cancellation of the Hotel Morgantown trade name with the Secretary of State’s office…”

Officials of an 86-year-old Morgantown hotel are crying foul over a nearby hotel’s name, saying the similar name violates its longstanding common law trademark. Filed April 26 by The Hotel Morgan Company against Himanshu Bhatin and his company Sahaj Morgantown LLC, the suit seeks Bhatin to change the name of his Hotel Morgantown to one that does not contain any variation of the words “hotel,” “Morgan” and “Morgantown.”

Hotel Morgan opened in 1925 as a “premier full-service lodging, restaurant and banquet facility,” the suit states, and has gained “regional and national recognition and prominence.”

Bhatin, a New Jersey resident, opened Hotel Morgantown & Conference Center in 2011. 

“Although Hotel Morgan is not registered as a state or federal service mark, it has acquired ‘secondary meaning,’ and is lawfully entitled to the protection afforded to common law trademarks under various state, federal and international laws, conventions and policies.”

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by | April 21, 2012 · 6:46 am

Hospitality Industry Health Risks: California Hotel Sued For $6 Million By Man Who Contracted Legionnaires' Disease From Hotel's Water System; Tests Confirm Bacteria Sickened Six People Resulting In One Death

“…In October 2011, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene confirmed the Legionella bacteria was present in water collected from various locations at the Plim Plaza. Six people were sickened with Legionnaires’ disease; one of them later died…”

The lawsuit alleges that the hotel was negligent in its failure to “adequately inspect, monitor and maintain” its water system.

(The Plaintiff)…went on to spend six weeks in the hospital, during which he experienced renal failure, septic shock and respiratory failure, according to the complaint. His medical bills exceeded $200,000 by the time he was discharged on Sept. 24.

A Virginia man who contracted Legionnaires’ Disease in Ocean City last summer is suing the Plim Plaza Hotel for $6 million.

Virginia resident Pat Eldon Dent Jr., and his wife, Martha Dent, filed a lawsuit against the historic Boardwalk hotel in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on April 18. The lawsuit, which names Plim Plaza Hotel Inc. and the Hale and John Harrison Partnership as defendants, seeks $5 million for negligence and $1 million for loss of consortium.

The lawsuit alleges the hotel’s water system was contaminated with unsafe levels of the Legionella bacteria while Dent and his wife stayed there between July 29, 2011, and Aug. 1, 2011. After returning to his home on Aug. 1, Dent began to feel feverish and on Aug. 10 was admitted to Winchester Medical Center and diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease, according to the seven-page complaint filed by Rockville attorney Ronald Karp.

For more:  http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20120421/WCT01/204210346/Virginia-man-who-contracted-Legionnaires-files-lawsuit-against-OC-hotel

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by | April 18, 2012 · 6:40 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Colorado Hotel Sued By Woman "Bitten By A Vicious Dog" Owned By Hotel Guest; Written "Pet Care Policies" Not Followed According To Lawsuit

“…The lawsuit claims that employees at The Little Nell hotel, which provided dog-sitting services for Babu, knew the dog had violent tendencies…”

“The Little Nell’s Guide to Petiquette,” a set of written policies governing pet care and behavior at the hotel, required that a problem dog such as Babu either be removed from the premises or have a sitter overseeing it at all times, the lawsuit said, according to the Times. The lawsuit accuses the hotel of failing to follow its policy…”

The Aspen Skiing Co. and a New York socialite couple are defendants in a lawsuit that accuses them of keeping a vicious dog that bit a woman at the Gondola Plaza. Beth Fischer, of Aspen, filed a complaint Monday in Pitkin County District Court saying she has racked up more than $200,000 in medical bills after a black Labrador retriever bit her on Sept. 18, according to the Aspen Times.

She has had multiple surgeries to her hand and resulting staph infections because of the attack, the lawsuit said. Fischer’s lawsuit said that she was walking in the Gondola Plaza, near the outdoor tables at Starbucks, when a black Labrador named Babu Sarofim “leapt up from its position and lunged directly” at her, biting her left hand.

“Fischer was able to free her left hand from Babu’s mouth and she immediately realized she was injured and bleeding from the dog bite,” the lawsuit said. A woman who witnessed the attack called 911.

For more: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/30907562/detail.html

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by | · 6:40 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Colorado Hotel Sued By Woman "Bitten By A Vicious Dog" Owned By Hotel Guest; Written "Pet Care Policies" Not Followed According To Lawsuit

“…The lawsuit claims that employees at The Little Nell hotel, which provided dog-sitting services for Babu, knew the dog had violent tendencies…”

“The Little Nell’s Guide to Petiquette,” a set of written policies governing pet care and behavior at the hotel, required that a problem dog such as Babu either be removed from the premises or have a sitter overseeing it at all times, the lawsuit said, according to the Times. The lawsuit accuses the hotel of failing to follow its policy…”

The Aspen Skiing Co. and a New York socialite couple are defendants in a lawsuit that accuses them of keeping a vicious dog that bit a woman at the Gondola Plaza. Beth Fischer, of Aspen, filed a complaint Monday in Pitkin County District Court saying she has racked up more than $200,000 in medical bills after a black Labrador retriever bit her on Sept. 18, according to the Aspen Times.

She has had multiple surgeries to her hand and resulting staph infections because of the attack, the lawsuit said. Fischer’s lawsuit said that she was walking in the Gondola Plaza, near the outdoor tables at Starbucks, when a black Labrador named Babu Sarofim “leapt up from its position and lunged directly” at her, biting her left hand.

“Fischer was able to free her left hand from Babu’s mouth and she immediately realized she was injured and bleeding from the dog bite,” the lawsuit said. A woman who witnessed the attack called 911.

For more: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/30907562/detail.html

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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 | · 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 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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