August, 2017 - HospitalityLawyer.com®

Tips for Securing Insurance Recoveries for Losses From Hurricane Harvey

by Finley Harckham in Insurance & Loss Prevention. Posted August 31, 2017

Hurricane Harvey tore up large areas of the Texas Gulf Coast with gale-force winds and storm surge, and then inundated vast areas, including Houston, with unprecedented amounts of rain. Many businesses in those areas are still shut down and operations are only slowly being restored. Moreover, refineries have been shut down which means that companies ...

Cloud Control: Data Security Hazards and How to Avoid Them

by Abraham Rein in Legal, Risk Management, Safety & Security, Technology. Posted August 30, 2017

Cloud computing, virtually nonexistent 15 years ago, is now verging on being the rule rather than the exception in the business world. According to the Gartner technology research firm, by 2019, more than 30 percent of the 100 largest vendors’ new software investments will have shifted from cloud-first to cloud-only, and by the year 2020, ...

Can An Airline Bump You From A Flight?

by Zach Garrett in Travel. Posted August 26, 2017

After a week-long business trip, you board a flight around 3:00 pm. As you settle into your seat and prepare for the flight a representative from the airline comes up to you and politely breaks the news that you’ve been selected to be bumped from the plane. You argue briefly, but without making a huge ...

Where ‘Natural’ Takes on A Whole New Meaning

by Anderson Kill in Food & Beverage, Legal. Posted August 24, 2017

The term “natural” in the food and beverage industry has long been an effective selling point as U.S. consumers look to live healthier lifestyles. An issue, however, arises when the term is deployed to entice consumers, regardless of whether the product is in fact “natural” as an average person would understand the term. On that ...

Mislabeled Food Products Risk Allergic Reaction

by Jennifer Arledge in Food & Beverage. Posted August 22, 2017

About 80 percent of all food products are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulates meat, poultry and egg products. Both agencies have regulations governing food production, labeling and recalls. Rarely does a week go by without reports of a food recall. The number of annual recalls ...

Inconsistent Performance Standards Dooms Defense Case

by Sid Steinberg in Human Resources, Legal. Posted August 19, 2017

Over the years, a consistent theme of this column has been that employers need to hold all employees, regardless of protected characteristic, to the same standard in order to avoid even the appearance of discrimination. These are generally “employment words to live by.” Realistically, however, managers often hold more senior employees to a higher standard ...

First Look at Google SOS Alerts

by Mark Dauner in Risk Management, Safety & Security, Technology. Posted August 12, 2017

Social media does a good job of delivering information quickly, but with so many sources – both official and unofficial – it is difficult to find the right signal in all the noise. When a crisis occurs, travelers don’t have time to sift through mountains of information to find what they need. Google’s new service, SOS ...

Contempt Is Nothing to Sneer At

by Anderson Kill in Legal. Posted August 10, 2017

Contempt remedies can be a useful tool to compel compliance with a court order, whether it be to produce certain documents, appear for a deposition, or otherwise comply with a valid and enforceable court order. The common understanding of the remedy is that courts and litigants use it to coerce noncompliant parties and nonparties to ...

Hotels Hit With Loyalty Program Patent Demand Letters

by Justin Bragiel in Hotel Development, Legal. Posted August 8, 2017

A number of hotels in Texas and around the U.S. are receiving alleged patent infringement demand letters related to hotel loyalty (rewards) programs. The demand letters were created by the organization “JBSHBM, LLC.,” and relate to allegations that a hotel is violating JBSHBM’s patent rights by participating in hotel brand loyalty programs. See a sample ...

Monthly Archives: August 2017