Of all the risks a hotelier faces, who would have ever considered the risk of a guest tampering with another guest’s room? Yet that’s exactly what happened to ESPN’s Erin Andrews, who was the victim of an alleged peeping tom – a man who reportedly stalked the woman in a most unusual way. The case against the man states he tampered with the peep hole in Ms. Andrews’ hotel door, then proceeded to watch her movements in her hotel room.

What’s equally disturbing is the alleged perpetrator’s actions prior to the incident and the hotel’s response. According to police records, the man requested a room adjacent to the victim’s room, a request the hotel chain honored. That move has turned the industry upside down in an effort to redefine hotel policies and guest security procedures.

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Flickr photo credit: Ed Bacchus

If you’re shopping for insurance through an agency or insurer that handles any number of policy types and industries, you could be under-insuring. That’s because general insurance agents, while understanding the broader aspects of covering commercial entities, are hard pressed to fully understand the risks unique to the hotel business. As a result, you may not be covering all the risks you can.

Instead, look for hotel industry specialists. These are folks like me, who understand the hotel business, and who have expertise in locating the right policies for your needs. Your general insurance agent may understand how to cover slip-and-fall injuries, general liability, or theft, but does that agent understand what hotel insurers require in terms of modern facilities, safety requirements, or management policies?

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Flikr photo credit: max sparber

How to drop the Limbo pole a notch and close the EPLI gap.

In Limbo (is it a game? a sport? a past-time?) the goal is to slide under the pole without touching it.  If you touch it you’re out.  When the bar is set high, everyone can slide under.  The space between the pole and the ground represents how “open” or susceptible your hotel is to EPLI lawsuits.  To read about an EPLI case right out of the latest romance novels – chock full of discrimination, romance, retaliation, and sexual harassment, go to Rough Note’s mock EPLI claim from 2006 found here. 

For those hotels in the previous article without employee handbooks or written policies for discipline and termination procedures… your bar is really high.  If you have these things in place, then the bar is lowered…a notch.  Let’s see how to lower it another notch.

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Flickr photo credit: dimitridf

EPLI – Employer Practices Liability Insurance is an insurance every employer hopes s/he never has to use.

EPL insurance is designed to protect employees against employment related rights infringements such as discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful discharge, lack of advancement, a hostile work environment, etc.

Those in the hotel industry have many exposures to the risks associated with EPLI. In the past 10 years wrongful termination and discrimination lawsuits have risen dramatically.

Think of these scenarios:
•An employee of the floormat/uniform company comes to pick up the soiled items and sexually harasses the desk clerk.

•A manager fires a female employee for getting pregnant…again.

•A doorman is referred to as “the old guy” by the staff.

•You hire an inexperienced Caucasian instead of an experienced Hispanic laundry person because the Hispanics are taking the jobs from Americans.

•An employee is terminated because he had a worker’s compensation injury and couldn’t return to work for 4 months.

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