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June 2010 • Vol III, Issue 2
In this Issue:
- Labor & Employment - Employers Face Challenges With Gender Identity Issues
- Reducing Hotel and Resort Liability for Pool Safety Negligence
- Cardiac Science Provides Insight on AED Decision and Selection Criteria
- What's New at HospitalityLawyer.com
- Dates Set for 2011 Hospitality Law Conference
Which Restroom? Employers Face Challenges With Gender Identity Issues
by Fisher & Phillips
National Hotel Law Affiliate for Labor & Employment
Good Eats, Inc. runs a family restaurant in a state which prohibits discrimination in employment based upon gender identity and disability. Its employees are required to wear name-tags, and to dress the same (black pants and shirt, minimal jewelry, conservative make-up). It has men's and women's restrooms, used by customers and employees alike. An employee (George) tells the manager that he is in transition to becoming a woman, and wants:
- to be addressed as Gail,
- to change her name-tag to read "Gail," and
- to use the women's restroom.
Several of the restaurant's female employees have told the manager that they intend to quit if Gail is permitted to share the women's restroom with them, and management is concerned with the reaction of its female customers if Gail is permitted to use the women's restroom.
This hypothetical is not far fetched.
Reducing Hotel and Resort Liability for Pool Safety Negligence
Hamilton, Miller, & Birthisel
Drowning is the second leading cause of accidental death for persons 15-44 years of age in the United States. Each year, approximately 6,000 people drown in the United States and thousands more are injured in incidents ranging from slip and falls to shallow diving accidents.
Hotel swimming pools and spas are a major source of litigation. In May 2010, the family of a Michigan swimmer who died in a pool at a fitness club while a lifeguard was allegedly folding towels has sued the company for $5.2 million. The suit charges that, while an on-duty lifeguard left the pool area to fold towels in an office, the swimmer drowned. This is but one example that demonstrates how diligent hotel and resort operators must be about every facet of pool safety in order to reduce their risk of liability for pool-related injuries and deaths. Hotels and resorts should have a well documented maintenance and safety check schedule (see attached example), and all personnel and managers should be trained in, and compliant with, the hotel’s pool safety and risk policies.
Cardiac Science Provides Insight on AED Decision and Selection Criteria
by Cardiac Science
Sudden cardiac arrest kills someone every two minutes. It causes an estimated 365,000 deaths in North America every year — more than 7 times the number of deaths from breast cancer.
When cardiac arrest occurs, death is just minutes away. There’s only one life-saving treatment: A shock from an automated external defibrillator. It must be delivered in the critical first few minutes.
The survival rate for witnessed incidents of cardiac arrest in the U.S. is between 5 and 10 percent. Many of these rescues occur because bystanders call 911, do cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and an ambulance equipped with an AED arrives in time. But research on communities and buildings where AEDs are kept near at hand shows that the survival rates can be much, much higher. A study of U.S. high schools with AEDs found that 64 percent of sudden cardiac arrest victims — two-thirds of them adults — survived.
What's New at HospitalityLawyer.com!
We are excited to announce hotel and restaurant law, safety, and security webinars.
HospitalityLawyer.com offers the following upcoming live legal, safety, and security webinars, including:
- July 14, Webinar on AEDs - More information coming soon!
Visit our on-demand library of webinars by clicking here and selecting the "On-Demand Webinars" tab.
Visit our Solutions Store for forms and checklists.
HospitalityLawyer.com Announces Alliance with the National Council of Chain Restaurants
This partnership will greatly expand the depth and breadth of legislative topics already covered at the annual Hospitality Law Conference – the only program in the world devoted exclusively to legal, safety and security issues impacting the hotel and restaurant industries.
Save the Date for the 2011 Hospitality Law Conference
The 2011 Hospitality Law Conference is scheduled for February 9-11, 2011, in Houston, Texas. Mark your calendars to not miss this one-of-a-kind conference!
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Houston, Texas
77227
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