Legal - HospitalityLawyer.com®

No Sexual Harassment, but Retaliation Claim Survives

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

Just as the adage is that “the coverup is worse than the crime,” we know that in employment law, “the retaliation claim is more dangerous than the underlying discrimination.” The latest example of this is in the recent decision of Austin v. Bloomin’ Brands, 2:16-CV-06509-TR (Aug. 30). MOSTLY HISPANIC KITCHEN STAFF Mark Austin began working ...

Hurricanes Headaches: HR FAQs for Employers

by Kara Maciel in Human Resources, Legal. Posted September 17, 2017

Natural disasters are known for the wreckage and destruction they leave in their wake and the difficulty that follows with recovery. For employers, these difficulties can arise in the form of HR challenges. When employees are affected by disasters, questions about wages, hours, FLMA, benefits, and more can arise. The best way to navigate through ...

Businesses Should Prepare For Predictive Scheduling Laws

by Jordan Schwartz in Food & Beverage, Human Resources, Legal. Posted September 5, 2017

Last month, Victoria’s Secret agreed to pay $12 million to settle a class action lawsuit in California brought by hourly employees that were denied pay as a result of the store’s use of on-call shift scheduling. In that lawsuit, the employees relied on a California law requiring employees, who report for work on a scheduled ...

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Workplace Harassment 101

by Daniel Deacon in Human Resources, Legal. Posted July 27, 2017

One lesson companies of all sizes can learn from the sexual harassment claims that Uber is facing is that an employer needs to set clear restrictions on harassment and make a conscious effort to hold employees accountable to those workplace standards. In particular, sexual harassment has been a significant issue in the workplace since men ...

The Sharing Economy And Discrimination Concerns: What Can You Do?

by Danielle Urban in Human Resources, Legal, Technology, Travel. Posted July 25, 2017

Recent studies have reported that race and gender disparities are not uncommon in the sharing economy. For example, it’s been reported that some gig workers were discriminating against customers with names that “sounded Black.” Women and workers of color are more likely to garner negative reviews from customers. And now, a recent study found that people ...

Legal ( Page 26 )