Legal - HospitalityLawyer.com®

A Discussion of Recent ADA and FMLA Cases and Their Practical Implications

by Robert Bernstein in Human Resources, Legal. Posted June 13, 2019

Agency Updates: In 2018, the Department of Labor released two significant opinion letters demonstrating its interpretation of the Family and Medical Leave Act. In FMLA2018-2- A, the DOL determined that an organ donor is entitled to FMLA leave when the donation involves either inpatient care or continuing treatment. In FMLA2018-1-A, the DOL clarified how employers ...

Best Practices in Trade Practices

by Valerie Haber in Food & Beverage, Legal. Posted June 11, 2019

Introduction After the Prohibition was repealed by the 21st Amendment, a complex web of alcohol beverage laws created a “three-tier system” in which independence must exist between alcohol beverage manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. The ways in which these three tiers can interact is strictly controlled by federal and state laws. Armed with an increased budget ...

No One Likes Surprises – Corporate Counsel Lessons Learned by Clients

by Craig Harris in Insurance & Loss Prevention, Legal. Posted June 8, 2019

I. Introduction I often think of the words first heard spoken by the Fram Oil mechanic in the television commercial many years ago – “you can pay me now or you can pay me later.” The wisdom of this statement has been proven time and time again. Its application in the legal services context is ...

Canadian Employment Laws

by Osler Hoskin Harcourt in Human Resources, Legal. Posted April 30, 2019

If you operate a hotel anywhere in Canada, you need to consider employment-related laws in the province or territory where the hotel is located. The following is a summary of some important differences between U.S. and Canadian laws. No “Employment at Will”The U.S. concept of employment at will does not exist in Canada. In Canada, ...

Liquor Licensing For Hotel & Restaurant Acquisitions

by Elizabeth DeConti in Food & Beverage, Legal. Posted December 27, 2018

You are the General Counsel or the outside counsel to a hotel or restaurant brand. Your client informs you that the company intends to purchase multiple units of additional properties in several different states. Your head spins, full of questions. Will it be an asset sale or stock purchase? Will we retain the employees? Will ...

Defending Cases In High Crime Areas

by Hagwood & Tipton in Legal, Safety & Security. Posted December 18, 2018

Depending on where you do business, crime and its associated consequences may simply be a cost of doing business. Unfortunately, savvy Plaintiff’s lawyers have carved out a niche practice by targeting businesses in high crime areas of our inner cities/Plaintiff-friendly venues. Frequently hotels, restaurants, bars, and the like find themselves as repeat targets in premises ...

Business Use of E-Scooters Presents New Challenges for Employers

by Susan Schaecher in Legal, Safety & Security, Travel. Posted December 4, 2018

Eric Lazzari needed to get across downtown for a meeting and decided to use an electric scooter, according to The Denver Post. He knew the law, and was properly operating the e-scooter on the sidewalk. While stopped at an intersection, an angry pedestrian approached him, told him e-scooters didn’t belong on the sidewalk, and smacked ...

Would You Like Fries And A Political Opinion With That? Regulating Employee Buttons, Pins, And Insignia In The Workplace

by Fisher Phillips in Food & Beverage, Legal. Posted November 27, 2018

Burgers and buttons are making headlines again. Employees at Burgerville—a fast-food restaurant chain in the Pacific Northwest—recently took to wearing buttons to work and were sent home for the day. These buttons were not your typical “Hi! My Name Is ______” fare. Instead, 10 Burgerville employees in Oregon showed up to work wearing buttons which ...

Tips, Service Charges, and Automatic Gratuities Continue to Cause Problems for Employers

by Jordan Schwartz in Human Resources, Legal. Posted November 22, 2018

Hospitality employers nationwide continue to be hit with class action lawsuits alleging failure to properly pay/distribute tips, as well as failure to correctly characterize service charges and automatic gratuities. These lawsuits have the potential to result in verdicts or settlement amounts more costly than virtually any other employment-related matter. As a result, it is important to ...

Effectively Using Social Media At Trial

by Hagwood & Tipton in Legal, Technology. Posted November 20, 2018

The process begins with obtaining information via requests for production, interrogatories, requests for admissions, depositions, etc. If used effectively, social media discovery can become an effective defense strategy that will withstand objections and scrutiny at trial. Social media evidence is important information to explore, especially considering most people (Plaintiffs) tend to have no filter when ...

Legal ( Page 16 )