Santa on trial

reprinted from Howe & Hutton law firm newsletter, Chicago IL


The New York Sun ran an editorial in September of 1897 entitled, “Is There a Santa Claus” in which the editor replied to his reader, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” The famous editorial reappears nearly every year in numerous publications. Just as well known is the classic 1947 film “Miracle on 34th Street.” Both captured the spirit of the holiday season. The Miracle on 34th Street was the trial judge’s ruling in court that Kris Kringle was the “real Santa Claus.” Much can be debated about the legal arguments presented, both in the original version of the film and the 1994 remake.
But Santa has been embroiled in a number of other legal issues including home invasion, disorderly conduct, impersonation, even challenges to parking tickets. While the U.S. Government has never recognized any person as “the real Santa Claus,” the U.S. Supreme Court has considered whether the image of Santa Claus is secular or religious.

The consensus seems to be that Santa without obvious religious symbols is a fair representation of the holiday season. Whether you think there really is a Santa Claus or some other suitable symbol for the holiday season, we wish you happy holidays and look forward to better times in the year to come.

Airline passenger rights bill passed

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) yesterday issued a new rule that significantly strengthens protections afforded to airline passengers, including the establishment of a three-hour time limit after which U.S. airlines must allow passengers to deplane delayed domestic flights. The rule also requires airlines to provide adequate food and potable drinking water for passengers within two hours of an aircraft being delayed.

The new rule also:

• Prohibits airlines from scheduling chronically delayed flights, subjecting those who do to DOT enforcement action for unfair and deceptive practices;

• Requires airlines to designate an airline employee to monitor the effects of flight delays and cancellations, respond in a timely and substantive fashion to consumer complaints and provide information to consumers on where to file complaints;

• Requires airlines to display on their website flight delay information for each domestic flight they operate;

• Requires airlines to adopt customer service plans and audit their own compliance with their plans; and

• Prohibits airlines from retroactively applying material changes to their contracts of carriage that could have a negative impact on consumers who already have purchased tickets

Fully booked Continental Air touches down in Fiji

It was a fully-booked Continental Airline flight that touched down at Nadi International Airport on Saturday.

On board were 120 passengers including journalists and two airline directors who travelled from Guam to Nadi.

Nadi is a new destination for Continental, accessable on flights from their hubs in Guam and Hawaii

US, UK protest India's new tight tourism rules

Britain and the US have lodged a diplomatic protest with India after the government in Delhi introduced rules barring tourists from returning to the country within two months of any visit.

The new visa rules, which also apply to other foreign nationals, are apparently a reaction to the arrest in the US of a Mumbai terror suspect, David Coleman Headley, who had entered India on a multiple-entry visa.
The British high commission in Delhi has urged the Indian government to rethink the policy, which is expected to hit tourists planning to use India as a base for touring the region.
It will also be a blow to thousands of Britons living in India on long-term tourist visas. Many foreigners living in India prefer to use tourist visas rather than go through the complicated process of trying to secure a visa that would grant them the right to residency.

Starwood upgrades hotels worldwide!

I normally am not the type of person to mince words. I say honestly what is on my mind. Starwood, being one of my two favorite chains, really needed this. I was at the Starwood in Rio 3 years ago and wallpaper was literally peeling off the lobby walls!

I am so intrigued to hear of W's financial demise. I always felt that they (meaning the hotel's culture and thus the people that worked there) were snobbish and acted to big for their britches.

Check out this nice Starwood Sheraton promo video!

http://www.starwoodpromos.com/sheratonvideo/

flu season & meeting planning

If you have been reading the papers & watching TV, you know this coming flu season promises to be the end of civilization as we know it. The H1N1 "swine flu" has government officials and medical experts on high alert. A presidential panel of experts believes that in a worst case scenario this winter, the swine flu could infect one-half of the population, hospitalize up to 1.8 million people, and cause as many as 90,000 deaths. Needless to say, an outbreak would cause massive attrition and possibly the cancellation of many meetings and conferences. Does your meeting contract protect you from liability if you need to cancel in such a circumstance? Just about every hotel and convention center contract has a "force majeure" clause, but the common flu is almost never 'severe enough to rise to the level of a force majeure event, and most meetings go on as planned even if the country is having a worse-than-average flu season. In most years, if you tried to cancel a meeting on the grounds that many of your attendees were afraid to attend for fear of catching the flu, venues would laugh at you and then demand that you honor the contract. Even industry attorney experts do not believe Force Majeur would apply for a contagion like the flu, but, do you all remember "Legionaires Disease"? On the other hand, the common flu seldom causes governments to shut down school systems and cancel other public events like the swine flu may be poised to do in the coming months. So this year may pose a new set of circumstances in which people decide to cancel their planned attendance at a conference. If enough of these cancellations occur, the meeting sponsor may need to cancel the entire event, and that's when the parties will start to examine whether the force majeure clause was broad enough to cover this circumstance. A good working relationship with the hotel is the first line of cooperation in such a circumstance. The next key to protecting yourself is to ensure that your force majeure clause has more than just the standard language covering "acts of God" and goes on to specifically cover "disease or epidemic." That phrase should be enough to give you a fair amount of protection, although if you wanted to put a fine point on the issue, you could make the clause more specific and state: "disease or epidemic, including swine flu, SARS, avian flu, or any other disease causing more than 20 percent of attendees to not attend." Expect some push back from the facility as a 20% loss of attendance prior to the event would be hard to prove ... that's where POTHOS vendor relationships & contract negotiation skills would be hard at work for you. We have a proven track record with existing clients and stand ready to help your organization too. Call us to learn more.