Discussion 1 – Pandemic Legal Issues
Discussion 1 is about the legal issues arising from doing business in hospitality and tourism during a pandemic.
List as many legal issues as you can think of that may concern hotels, restaurants, resorts, theme parks, cruise ships, airlines and other similar businesses. For each issue, state how you would deal with it to avoid legal liabilities.
Cite any resources that you used to find information.
We will discuss the issues in class together and the professor will summarize some points to learn from this lesson.
Your assignment is to post 5 issues you choose and how you would apply as a manager what you learned about how to deal with each issue. Cite at least one resource.
For TWO of the following: summarize the article or case, then state what you learned and how you apply what you learned as a hospitality manager. Your summary of each article should be between half to a full page.
A HARD RAINS A-GONNA FALL–TERRORISM AND EXCUSED CONTRACTUAL PERFORMANCE IN A-1.docx
IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM NONPERFORMANCE OF CONTRACT OBLIGATIONS .docx
LITIGATION FOLLOWING A CYBER ATTACK POSSIBLE OUTCOMES AND MITIGATION STRATEGIES.docx
THREADING NEEDLES IN THE DARK WILL DEALS SURVIVE WHEN CYBERATTACKS COLLAPSE THE.docx
Please identify what a unilateral contract is versus a bilateral contract. Be sure to provide an example along with the definition. For negligence, explain the concept of negligence per se. Lastly, be sure to explain whether a contract can include the jurisdiction between the parties. Be sure to provide an example to illustrate your understanding.
Discussion 3 – Sex in the Hotel
As manager of a hotel, you have noticed that persons suspected to be prostitutes are seen frequently in your hotel lobby and bar. What are your options, considering legal issues and business considerations?
- May you order your front desk staff and security to have all persons suspected of being prostitutes removed from the property?
- If a guest insists that a person suspected of being a prostitute is a visitor of the guest, may the hotel refuse to allow the suspect to visit the guest’s room?
- Will the hotel be liable for lost property of the guest if the hotel allows a suspected prostitute to visit the guest’s room and the guest later reports being drugged and robbed?
- May the hotel be charged with a crime for allowing suspected prostitutes to work at the hotel?
- May the hotel prohibit use of illegal drugs in a guest room? May the hotel manager enter the guest room without the guest’s permission if there is reason to believe that illegal drugs are being used in violation of hotel policy?
Groh v Westin Operator LLC.docx
Provide a one page summary of the attached case illustrating what you learned from reading the case.
Find an article about discrimination, disabilities or employment using the FIU Library Online Resources. The article can be a legal case, business journal article, or magazine. In the alternative, you can use the attached article about discrimination. EEOC v Marion.pdf
Write a short summary (no more than one page) about what you learned in the article and how you would apply what you learned as a manager. Give the citation for the article.
Motion to Dismiss Complaint.pdf
Directions: Review the attachments above and select THREE of them. Thereafter, provide a brief summary of your understanding of the document.
Discussion 4 – Discrimination; Disabilities; Employment
Directions: Briefly address the questions below from a managerial perspective. Please keep your answers concise and detailed. Your complete assignment should be less than a page in total.
ADA Issues
- As manager, how would you treat a miniature horse which a guest wants to bring on your cruise ship? What are the rights and duties of the guest and the restaurant?
- An autistic child is eating in your restaurant with his parents, but he is constantly making loud noises, for which other guests have complained. What are the rights and duties of the guest and the restaurant?
- A service dog has stayed overnight in a guest room at your hotel, which does not allow pets. The service dog barks occasionally, as he is trained to do, which wakes other guests. What are the rights and duties of the guest and the hotel?
Discrimination Issues
- One of your employees notifies you that he has just converted to the Pastafarian religion in which the Sabbath requires no work from Friday afternoon until Monday noon. Your business is a bar-restaurant which does most of its business on weekends. What are the rights and duties of the guest and the bar-restaurant?
- Other employees are making jokes about the Rastafarian religion, including making comments to each other and posting cartoons in company emails. The employee who is a Rastafarian has not complained to co-workers, but now tells you that he objects to the derogatory remarks about his religion. What are the rights and duties of the employee and the restaurant?
- One of your employees who works at the front desk of your hotel begins wearing a burka (or burqa) to work which covers her entire face leaving only a mesh veil to see through. Some hotel guests have complained about her appearance and other front desk employees say that they have more work because some guests avoid going to the burka wearing employee. What are the rights and duties of the employee and employer?
Employment Issues
- A server in your restaurant begins wearing a religious symbol on a necklace, despite company policy that visible jewelry is prohibited. What are your options for management of this employee?
- A guest in your hotel makes objectionable sexual comments to the hotel concierge, who complains to you as the manager. What are your options for management of this situation?
- A customer of your restaurant tells you that one of your employees has been making negative remarks about your restaurant on social network sites. The employee is not identified in the posts, but states that he/she is an employee there. What are the rights and duties of the employee and the restaurant?
Read the following cases which are both attached.
Analyze and summarize each case as to its facts, legal issues and how it was decided.
Then write one paragraph to compare the cases.
What did you learn from these cases and how would you apply what you learned as a hospitality manager?
Gulf Coast Commercial v. Gordon River Hotel Associates.pdf These are Federal Cases, not State cases.
Gulf Coast Commercial Corp dba Inn on Fifth v. Gordon River Hotel Assoc. dba Bayfront Inn on Fifth, 2006 U.S.Dist. LEXIS 30492 (M.D.Fla. 2006)
Burger King of Florida Inc. v. Gene and Betty Hoots.pdf
Burger King of Fla. v. Hoots, 403 F.2d 904 (7th Cir. 1968)
Read TWO of the following articles, summarize it, state what you learned and how you would use it as a manager.
Dickerson CRUISE PASSENGERS RIGHTS & REMEDIES 2011-1.pdf
Cruise Ship Dram Shop Laws.docx
Cruise Ship Environmental Laws.docx
Copyrights, Trademarks and Patents
- Find the news reports about the case of Chow vs. Chow, two restaurants in Miami Beach with similar names. Discuss what the case was about and the court’s decision. Then find another case on Westlaw or LexisNexis involving restaurant names. How would you avoid this problem?
- Find the news reports about the trademark case between Apple and Samsung. Discuss what the case is about and the court’s decision. Then find another case involving a trademark dispute. How would you avoid this problem?
- If you are a hotel owner on Miami Beach, are you legally allowed to take a photograph people attending the SOBE Wine & Food Festival and use this in advertising for your hotel? Does it matter if your hotel was a participant in SOBE? Find a case involving photographs. How would you avoid this problem?
- If you are a chef who has a distinctive recipe for a special food, can you protect against other people making the same recipe? Does it matter if the person who is making the same recipe used to work in your kitchen and learned the recipe there? Find a case involving recipe copyright protection. How would you avoid this problem?
- If you are a hotel owner and a guest has reported that a small drone has been hovering over the hotel swimming pool taking photos of guests, do you have any legal remedies to prevent the drone over your hotel? Can you shoot it down with your own shooting drone? Can the photos of guests by the pool be published? Find a drone privacy case. How would you avoid this problem?