Share
A recent lawsuit brought on behalf of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community should prompt employers to consider taking measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as providing transparent face masks for employees and clean writing tools for customers, in order to comply with federal and state disability discrimination laws.
 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌
Delivering Hospitality Legal and Safety News to the Food & Beverage Industry

April 2021
 
HospitalityLawyer.com's Converge Newsletter
 
Groundbreaking Lawsuit Against Nike Prompts Employers to Consider Transparent Face Masks as an ADA Accommodation During the Pandemic
Happy sign language woman wearing transparent face mask and saying "Thank you" in ASL
April 22, 2021 via Total Food Service

A recent lawsuit brought on behalf of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community should prompt employers to consider taking measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as providing transparent face masks for employees and clean writing tools for customers, in order to comply with federal and state disability discrimination laws.

Nike, like most employers in 2020, began requiring its retail employees to wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The company provided solid-colored, Nike-branded masks to all employees. Thereafter a customer, who is deaf, entered one of Nike’s San Diego-area stores to purchase some shoes. Like other deaf and hearing-impaired customers, that customer relies on her ability to read other’s lips to communicate. Masks like the ones Nike-provided create unique communication problems for deaf and hard of hearing people, because they muffle speech and block visualization of the mouth area and facial expressions.

HospitalityLawyer.com's ConvergeBlog
Follow Our Blog

Keep up with the latest and dive into all areas of hospitality news through our converge blog with new articles posted each week

Hospitality Law 5th Edition Cover
Purchase Textbook

Hospitality Law: Managing Legal Issues in the Hospitality Industry is a practical approach to hospitality law

 
See What's New
woman receiving COVID-19 vaccination
Small and Midsized Businesses Can Claim Tax Credits for Vaccine Paid Time Off

April 22, 2020 via Nation's Restaurant News
The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department on Wednesday detailed a plan that will allow small and midsized businesses to claim tax credits for providing paid leave for employees to get COVID-19 vaccinations.
man holding gun and aiming toward target
Preparing For and Responding To An Active Shooter & Workplace Violence

April 21, 2021 via Total Food Service
Sadly, active shooter incidents have significantly increased in frequency over the past few years, and are unfortunately much more prevalent now than before.
customer picking up food from a restaurant
How to Apply for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund

April 19, 2021 via QSR Magazine
Essentially, the SBA will accept applications from ALL eligible applicants out of the gate, but only process and fund priority group applications.
 
mcdonald's building and sign
McDonald's Will Require Anti-Harassment Training at all Restaurants in 2022
April 14, 2021 via Restaurant Dive

In the past, McDonald's only required sexual harassment trainings of corporate-owned locations — just a sliver of its store footprint — though it encouraged operators to do the same and made training materials available on its website. The company also in 2019 created a four-page policy against "discrimination, harassment and retaliation" that provides guidance on next steps if a policy were violated and created a sexual harassment hotline.

Despite these efforts, critics have long called for putting McDonald's franchisees on the hook for these trainings alongside company-owned restaurants. Juliette Gust, co-founder of workplace misconduct reporting channel Ethics Suite, told Restaurant Dive last summer that restaurants aren't motivated to make these kinds of demands of their franchisees because corporations have been absolved of joint employer liability in these kinds of situations in the past.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Copyright © 2021 HospitalityLawyer.com, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in at HospitalityLawyer.com

Our mailing address is:
HospitalityLawyer.com
2450 Louisiana, Ste. 400-416
Houston, TX 77006

The articles included in this newsletter are subject to HospitalityLawyer.com's Terms Of Use.

 

Email Marketing by ActiveCampaign