HOUSTON, TX—Considering that the hospitality law bar reflects the concerns of the moment of the broader hospitality industry, the topics under discussion at the ninth annual Hospitality Law Conference held here two weeks ago covered a broad spectrum, ranging from the lingering effects of the two-year downturn on the transactions market to labor issues and the impact of the new health care reform law.
Then too technological advances ranging from social media to the electronic transmission of consumer credit card data came up for discussion as well, having become industry hot-button issues that carry serious legal implications. Approximately 300 people attended the three-day event.
The recent economic downturn impacted the industry differently than downturns in the 1980s, noted Conference director Stephen Barth, president and founder of HospitalityLawyer.com, which sponsors the gathering. “Back then when a hotel fell into financial distress, the owners knew whom to turn to. They’d know who their mortgage banker was, who their lender was. Now many of the loans have been packaged, securitized and sold,” Barth said.
Accordingly, lawyers today need to get many different perspectives in order to be able to assist their clients effectively. “It’s no longer just the franchisors and the franchisees. It’s the special servicers as well as the lenders. Occupancy and RevPAR many be coming back in certain markets, but the issue of distressed properties is very much with us.”
On the federal level, however, there’s less concern about the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, which raised serious questions about the right to a private ballot. “The November election, in which Republicans assumed control of the House of Representatives, in effect, took EFCA off the table,” explained Barth, who is also a professor at the Conrad Hilton College of Hotel & Restaurant Management at the University of Houston.
Also on the federal level, attendees learned about recently adopted regulations to the Americans with Disabilities Act that will impact hotel design when they take effect in 13 months. Presenter J. Aaron McCullough, founder of ADAConsult.com, told them that the Department of Justice’s goals in mandating the new accessibility standards were four-fold: to provide better access, easier compliance, improved usability, and more consistent model building codes.
Meanwhile, months after the passage of the new health care reform act, hotel owners and managers—and, therefore, the lawyers representing them—are still trying to get a handle on the legislation’s impact. “For a lot of hoteliers, it’s going to be a new experience because they may not have offered health insurance coverage to their entire workforce before,” Barth noted.
Contentious union issues have surfaced in recent months in San Francisco, Chicago, and other markets. There’s been a significant amount of organizing activity that’s of concern to both in-house counsel and outside counsel.
Another issue that was addressed at the event is the proposed legalization/decriminalization of medical marijuana. “How do we respond to a guest who says, ‘I need to use this for medical purposes and have an authorized prescription.’ How do hoteliers reconcile this with their obligation to the rest of their guests to provide smoke free accommodations?” Barth asked. “You don’t want to leave it to the front desk agent to arbitrarily decide how to respond to such a request.”
Meanwhile, the number of sexual harassment suits is on the rise as well. “The industry has done a good job of creating zero tolerance policies, which we’re required to do, and conducting training programs,” Barth said. “But at the same time the spike in interest in Facebook, Twitter, and similar Internet vehicles has sort of re-lit the fuse.”
The widespread popularity of social media sites has raised even more far-reaching legal questions, namely the nature of free speech in the context of a private company. “Exactly what are employees free to post on these sites about their employers and co-workers?” he asked. Consequently, many companies are starting to draft policies to help define what associates can say online.
