Fowler White Hospitality eNews

Hospitality eNews Change

Effective next week, we will be combining the Hospitality eNews with our Employment & Immigration eNews. All current subscribers will begin receiving the Employment & Immigration eNews which covers the employment issues which are important to many hospitality businesses.

Legal Issues Surrounding March Madness Pools in the Workplace

March Madness office pools can boost employee morale, but there can be pitfalls for companies that get officially involved in office pools, according to a Tampa Tribune article published on March 14, 2010.

Fowler White employment attorney Bob Riegel advises employer-clients to use common sense. "Technically it's illegal, as is any form of gambling. The employer should not run a betting pool or allow company facilities to be used, such as the Internet, e-mails or office bulletin boards. And the employer needs to make sure that the workers are not structuring the brackets or setting up the pool on company time." Riegel added that if a worker puts one together during lunch and it's only $1 or $5, and co-workers recruit others (but not on company time), then it's not a big deal. But if there's a huge pool running involving $100 or $1,000 bets, then there is reason for concern. Click here to read the full article. For employment questions, contact Bob Riegel.

Julie Sneed Receives Tampa Bay Business Journal's Top Diversity Award

Fowler White Boggs is proud to announce that Julie Sneed has been selected as the winner of the 2010 Tampa Bay Business Journal’s Diversity and Inclusion Awards in the individual category. This award celebrates individuals who have demonstrated their ability to promote policies, programs and projects that foster equal opportunities, practices, career advancement skills and benefits in the workplace regardless of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or expression.

Ms. Sneed is a past president of the George Edgecomb Bar Association and is currently the co-chair of the ABA Section of Litigation Minority Trial Lawyer Committee. She has received numerous diversity awards including the DiversityFIRST Award by the National Diversity Counsel and the President’s Award by the George Edgecomb Bar Association. In addition to being the co-chair of the firm’s diversity committee, her legal practice encompasses a broad range of complex litigation matters, including business litigation and class actions. Please click here to learn more about the firm's diversity efforts.

Health Reform Includes Restaurant Menu-Posting Requirements

Chain restaurants across the nation will be required to post calorie counts on their menus for each item that they serve, under new legislation. The new rules, passed by the House as part of the huge healthcare reform package and sent to President Obama to sign into law, were lauded by nutrition advocates as well as the restaurant industry.
Read full story at Los Angeles Times (free reg. req'd).

Florida Lawmakers Block Bill Aimed at Taxing Online Travel Sites

The Florida House Finance and Tax Council blocked a bill that would have taxed companies such as Expedia on the full amount paid by customers, including service fees. Meanwhile, a separate House committee gave bipartisan approval to a bill that would do the opposite: shield the online companies from a tax on their service charges.
Read full story at South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Hotel Loan Defaults Could Double to 30 Percent by 2012

Hotel loan defaults could double in the United States, reaching 30 percent, by 2012 as the lodging industry struggles with a drop in cash flows and lower property values, Fitch Ratings said. Hotel revenues have fallen nearly 20 percent since 2008 and cash flows are not expected to increase until 2011, Fitch said in a research note.
Read full story at Reuters.

U.S. Hotel Chains See Big Opportunities in Asia

Asia is beginning to look a lot more like America -- at least when it comes to hotels. Major United States hotel chains are aggressively expanding into Asia, creating new options for travelers looking for familiar brands abroad.
Read full story at The New York Times (free reg. req'd).

Accusations of Illegal Whale Meat Cause Restaurant to Close

The Santa Monica restaurant accused of illegally selling meat from an endangered whales species closed its doors for good as a "self-imposed punishment." The parent company of The Hump, Los Angeles-based Typhoon Restaurant Inc., and one of its chefs, Kiyoshiro Yamamoto, face federal charges of unlawfully and knowingly selling sei whale to customers for an unauthorized purpose.
Read full story at Nation's Restaurant News.

Banker Says 2010 Will be Big Year for Food Industry M&A

This year will be an extremely active time for food industry dealmaking as players in the sector look to buy growth after the recession, a veteran investment banker said. Greg Pearlman, managing director and head of the U.S. food and consumer group for BMO Capital Markets, cited a great deal of "pent-up supply" for deals in the sector.
Read full story at Reuters.

Managers Responding to Popularity of Online Hotel Reviews

Armed with a log-in account and numerous travel websites willing to give them a forum, customers are increasingly vocalizing their experiences online for other travelers to read. That's prompting more managers to respond quickly or fear losing business.
Read full story at USA Today (free reg. req'd).

Restaurants Find Benefits to Simple Text Coupons

With the advent of smart-phone apps, enhanced mobile websites and scannable 2-D bar codes, marketers can easily get overwhelmed trying to keep up, but restaurants don't always have to chase the next big thing in mobile marketing to succeed, operators and experts say. Many restaurateurs praise the simplicity and high return on investment of text coupons, the understated workhorse of mobile advertising.
Read full story at Nation's Restaurant News.

Freeze Severely Damages Southwest Florida Tomato Crops

Two months after Southwest Florida's January killer freeze, restaurants and supermarkets are still feeling the tomato scarcity. Southwest Florida produce growers suffered more than $250 million in crop damage after temperatures dropped to as low as 21 degrees in inland growing areas in the early morning hours of Jan. 11.
Read full story at The News-Press.