Legal Responsibilities for the Meeting Planner
About 10 years ago, most hotels and large venues have enforced liability responsibility on the meeting planner because of the growing attitude of a litigious society that we now live in. Back then, hotels were losing their "shirt" in even frivolous liability cases.
First, some hotel contracts will have a clause that states the organization sponsoring a conference at the hotel agrees to be legally liable for injuries or property damage caused not only by its own employees but also by any exhibitors, even if the sponsor exercises no meaningful ability to control the actions of those exhibitors.
Second, nearly all convention center rental contracts have an onerous clause that makes the organization renting the convention center liable for injuries or property damage caused by literally anyone entering the building. They will add that they need the hotel to be a named insured added on the planners insurance policy for the duration of the event.
Under general principles of corporate law, an organization is liable for the acts and omissions of its employees and agents while they are acting within the scope of their duties, but it is normally not liable for the acts of independent contractors and other third parties not under its general supervision and control. But what many organizations do not realize is that they may have inadvertently agreed to be contractually liable at a conference for the actions of parties who are totally beyond their control and not covered by their liability insurance policy. That's why it pays to carefully read and understand the fine print in conference contracts.
This causes concerns that the hotels may be slowly avoiding liability all together which is puzzling because where is the responsibility of the hotel for faulty building construction, fall and slip hazards on their property, employees of the hotel that cause injury, etc. The meeting planner does, to a certain extent, have the right to address the hotel’s responsibility in the event of injury of any kind on their property. Of course, contracts are all subject to interpretation and when an injury claim does arise, the tables could be turned on the hotels.
For more ways on how to protect your interests and not let the hotel get the best of you, legally, seek a competent attorney that specializes in legal liability for the meeting planning or hotel industry.
Note: All legal information contained here is just the opinion of the author and is not construed as legal advice for your company, entity or personal matters.
This issue of News Articles written by Bruce K. Inouye of www.P2 Events.com
(Please contact this author for permission to reprint in any other publication.)