Duff on Hospitality Law

Lawyers often say “bad facts make bad law”. Combine that with weak legal arguments and, well, things can get really bad, really fast. That’s precisely what happened to Wyndham yesterday when the Third Circuit affirmed a federal District Court decision that the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has authority to regulate cybersecurity under the unfairness prong of § 45(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act. While commentators may disagree on the result from a legal or policy perspective, one thing is for certain, it was a bad result for Wyndham. The decision rejected in no uncertain terms Wyndham's argument that the FTC lacked authority; and not kindly.

The Competition & Markets Authority (CMA), which investigates business practices and enforces anti-competition and consumer protection legislation in the UK, just released a report and call for information that signals more scrutiny for online reviews and endorsements. Though the report does not identify companies or sites that will be the subject of investigation, it expresses a general concern that a number of businesses are breaking the law. The report does not point fingers, but it’s worth noting that the hospitality industry is mentioned several times as an area of particular interest, based in part on a survey conducted by the British Hospitality Association in March of this year. Consumer reliance on reviews for vacation travel, the relatively higher cost for hospitality related services, and the sensitivity of the hospitality related services to negative reviews were cited by the CMA as reasons why the industry is an area of particular concern.

The sharing economy requires a new look at work relationships. Many of the business models in the sharing economy are based on individuals being creative and entrepreneurial as they seek to provide services to others. Drivers for companies such as Uber and Lyft share their cars using a license to access software that connects drivers and riders. Residences are rented out on a short term basis using software that markets to prospective travelers on sites like Vrbo and Airbnb. SnapGoods provides a mechanism for lending or borrowing high-end household items. DogVacay provides host homes to animals whose owners are travelling. TaskRabbit allows others to bid to do your tasks and odd jobs. There is a never-ending list of creative sites looking to maximize the sharing economy. But, when is the line crossed from independent contractors providing services to others to employees of the “hosting” company? This is the question that has been the focus of recent administrative rulings and lawsuits involving Uber.

Joy Ellis, member of our Labor, Employment & Immigration and Hospitality, Travel & Tourism practice groups, brings us the very latest news about Oregon’s Statewide Paid Sick Leave Bill. Thank you, Joy! – Greg

In the hospitality industry, dress code policies are very important. Diana Shukis, member of our Labor, Employment & Immigration group, brings us the latest US Supreme Court ruling regarding image-based policies. Thank you, Diana! – Greg

In today’s post, Malcolm Seymour, a member of our New York office who specializes in commercial litigation and regulatory enforcement actions, discusses the benefits and legal considerations for those who provide free WiFi to their hospitality customers.

In the past twelve months we have reported on a Virginia case, Yelp!, Inc., v. Hadeed Carpet Cleaning, Inc., (“Hadeed”) that was closely watched because the case dealt with whether a business owner could unmask an anonymous blogger that posted specific critical reviews on Yelp! of his carpet cleaning company. This week the Virginia Supreme Court said, “No”. Hadeed had subpoenaed Yelp! to provide information in Virginia that would identify the authors of the reviews under a new Virginia statute, that requires only that a business prove that a negative review is, or “may be defamatory” or that it has a legitimate good-faith basis for believing that the review is defamatory in order to learn the identity of the reviewer. Hadeed presented evidence that could prove that the seven negative reviewers were not actual customers of the carpet cleaners, which a lower court found could mean that the reviews could be defamatory.

In today's post, we discuss the latest updates regarding the federal processes that authorize employment for certain undocumented persons. Thank you! – Greg

Benjamin Lambiotte, technology and data privacy attorney in Garvey Schubert Barer’s D.C. office, shares key points from two significant survey reports analyzing trends in data security breaches during 2014 that were released this week; one from Verizon, and the other from IBM and the Poneman Institute. It should come as no surprise to anyone that once again, the hospitality industry is featured prominently in both reports. Thank you, Ben! – Greg

In this blog post, we discuss the NLRB's March 2015 report and the importance of reviewing and updating your employee handbook. Thank you! – Greg