Tag Archives: Legal Risks

by | June 27, 2014 · 9:43 am

Hospitality Industry ADA Update: “Best Western Responds to Property That Refused Family With Service Dog”

“…Under the Americans with Disabilities Act,service dogservice animals can accompany people with disabilities in all areas where members of the public are allowed. Staffers are allowed to only ask two questions: Whether the dog is a service animal and what tasks he has been trained to perform…”

Best Western International has responded to its Baton Rouge property that refused the reservation of a North Carolina family traveling with a service dog by temporarily restricting the hotel from accepting reservations.

For more: http://yhoo.it/1yULoDz

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Filed under Claims, Employee Practices, Guest Issues, Hotel Industry, Hotel Restaurant, Management And Ownership, Training

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by | June 26, 2014 · 9:09 am

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “Hot-Sheets Bronx Motel Kept Bloody Mattress in Room Years After Customer Died of Overdose on Bed”

“…A room attendant who photographed the soiled mattress in room 230 weeksbronx hotel before the inspection told an arbitrator it had been in use up until April, 2014…The firm also found that hotel management had failed to properly train staff on how to handle sheets and towels contaminated with human waste and other substances…”

Working in this Bronx motel is a bloody hell.

The owners of a hot-sheet motel where union laborers have been protesting wage and benefits cuts failed to replace a bloody mattress two years after a dead man was found on the bed, workers claim.

Owner Ankoor Naik has also ignored two independent reports that found inadequate training and protection for employees at the 94-unit flophouse despite hazardous conditions and bedbug infestations, workers and safety experts attest.

For more: http://nydn.us/1qL4QQD 

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Filed under Bed Bugs, Claims, Employee Practices, Guest Issues, Health, Hotel Industry, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Training

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by | June 24, 2014 · 8:35 am

Hospitality Industry Liability Update: “Hotels Don’t Need CO Alarms, New Rules Say”

“…CO is a very real danger, and CO alarms should be in hotel rooms,”CO says Stephen Thom, a University of Maryland professor of emergency medicine and a CO specialist. “CO incidents happen in every major city regularly, and people only pay attention to the need for CO detectors when there is a tragedy…”

New international building and fire codes that will be published this summer may provide hotel guests less protection from deadly carbon monoxide.

The 2015 codes eliminate a 2012 requirement that required a CO alarm in each guest room or a detection system in all common areas, according to Michael O’Brian, a member of an International Code Council committee that recommended the new codes.

For more: http://usat.ly/1jLdVBe

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Filed under Guest Issues, Health, Hotel Industry, Injuries, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Technology

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by | June 12, 2014 · 8:24 am

Hospitality Industry Risk Update: “Hospitality’s Fight Against Human Trafficking”

“…While the $32-billion human trafficking industry is on the rise, now the hospitality industry must take steps.gavel (1) With leaders like Nelson, the hospitality industry is just starting to push back, which means traffickers are going to hit obstacles never seen before. We cannot just rely on the strength of victims and the federal government to fight alone. All of us have a responsibility to stop the epidemic in our country…”

The hospitality businesses, especially hotels and restaurants, have become a harbor for human trafficking in the United States. Human trafficking comes in two forms: commercial sex trafficking and forced labor trafficking. Victims can be domestic or international. Whether it is commercial sex trafficking victims being moved through motels, or subcontracted foreign labor utilized in restaurants or hotels, traffickers have identified the hospitality industry as a vehicle for modern-day slavery.

For more: http://bit.ly/1hMzfem

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Filed under Crime, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management

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by | June 11, 2014 · 9:02 am

Hospitality Industry Bed Bug Update: “How to Search Your Hotel Room for Bed Bugs”

“…I also found “joke” apps pretending to be bed bug detectors for the purposes of freaking your friends out,bedbugs2 and some highly bogus “ultrasonic repelling” apps that suggest they turn your phone into a sonic threat to bugs of all kinds. There is no evidence that bed bugs or mosquitoes are repelled by ultrasound. Don’t waste your money…”

You’re packed for your trip, your boarding passes are downloaded… and then that little moment of terror hits. What if the hotel you’re going to stay in has bed bugs? It’s a real concern, but by being vigilant, you can reduce your chances of bringing home some unexpected souvenirs.

I don’t put a lot of trust in online hotel bed bug ratings or reports; infestation status can change from day to day, and there is no reliable way to verify that reviews are not fake.

Here’s how I search for bed bugs when I arrive at a new hotel. I can’t promise this is foolproof, but knowing how one slightly-paranoid entomologist deals with the threat of bed bugs might be useful to some readers.

For more: http://wrd.cm/1odGOha

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Filed under Bed Bugs, Hotel Industry, Maintenance, Management And Ownership

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by | June 9, 2014 · 8:21 am

Hospitality Industry Crime Update: “2 Teens Shot at West Berkeley Hotel Party”

“…According to unconfirmed scanner traffic, one person had been shot in the face and one person had been shot in the leg.Berkeley Hotel Both were taken by ambulance to a local hospital for medical treatment.Authorities received a report of a third person who had been shot in the chest, but had not located anyone matching that description as of 11:15 p.m. They planned to call local hospitals to see if that person had gotten to the hospital in some other way, according to the scanner…”

Berkeley Police spokeswoman officer Jennifer Coats confirmed that two teenage juvenile boys were shot at La Quinta on Saturday night.

She said she could not comment on their injuries due to medical privacy laws, but said the wounds did not appear to be life threatening. Both were taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Police have not located a third gunshot victim, though one initially had been reported. Authorities have asked area hospitals to alert the Berkeley Police Department if they become aware of one.

For more: http://bit.ly/1kWZQF9

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Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management

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by | June 5, 2014 · 8:17 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Update: “Grass Valley Hotel Bust Results in 15 Arrests”

“…Through that investigation 15 people were arrested on variety of charges,grass valley including suspicion possession of controlled substances and firearms. Police believe the suspects were using the rooms to take drugs…Police confiscated methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, firearms and ammunition. A hidden trap door under the carpet in one room led to a storage room…”

Grass Valley police arrested 15 people on various drug and gun charges at a hotel.

The arrests occurred on May 30 after police learned that people were staying at the Holiday Lodge on East Main Street who were not registered. Police suspected they were involved in narcotics.

For more: http://bit.ly/1kNa4mA

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Filed under Crime, Guest Issues, Hotel Industry, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management

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by | June 3, 2014 · 8:42 am

Hospitality Industry Scam Alert: “CH&LA Email Scam Alert”

CH&LA Alert

 

Hello Petra Friends

A new e-mail “scam” has developed across California, with some of our hotels in Kansas and Michigan also receiving the email.

California Hotels may NOT refuse to rent minors rooms based on their age only.  Refusing to rent to minors may be legal and appropriate in other States than California, so check with your local hotel Hotel & Lodging Association for more details.

Please click the image above to read the full alert as well as download a printable copy. 

Any questions? Call Petra Risk Solutions at (800) 466-8961

 

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by | · 7:54 am

P3 Hospitality Industry Risk Report: “Front Desk Best Practices” Presented by Loss Control Manager Marco Johnson of Petra Risk Solutions (VIDEO)

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/96622404 w=500&h=281]

Petra Risk Solutions’ Loss Control Manager, Marco Johnson, offers a P3 Hospitality Risk Report – ‘Front Desk Best Practices’. 

P3 ( Petra Plus Process) is the Risk Management Division of Petra Risk Solutions – America ’s largest independent insurance brokerage devoted exclusively to the hospitality marketplace.

For more information on Petra and P3 visit petrarisksolutions.com or call 800.466.8951.

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Filed under Guest Issues, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training

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by | June 2, 2014 · 8:00 am

Hospitality Industry Risk Update: “Methamphetamine Labs Pose Growing Problem, Expense for Hotel Owners”

“…The ingredients for meth and their byproducts, including ammonia, hydrochloric acid gas, lithium, sulfuric acid and pseudoephedrine,Meth Labs carry a plethora of possible side effects depending on the length of exposure….The size of most hotel rooms and the self-contained air-handling systems in them work in favor for decontamination crews. Since each room has its own heating and air-conditioning unit, the chances of the vapors getting into the rest of the building are slim…”

Gone are the days when making meth on the go was confined to low-end hotel rooms. The drug’s cooks are now finding their ways into hotels that any family might choose for road trips or weekends at various lake communities in the area.

“It’s not just happening in low-level hotels or strip hotels. It’s starting to happen in middle-class hotels,” said Joe Clark, operations manager for water and special projects at Protechs, a Fort Wayne company that does meth lab decontamination.

For more: http://bit.ly/1pzPNsk

 

 

 

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Filed under Business Interruption Insurance, Crime, Guest Issues, Hotel Restaurant, Liability, Management And Ownership

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