Industry applauds removal of L.A. Homeless-In-Hotels ballot measure

The removal of Los Angeles’ Homeless-In-Hotels measure from the March 2024 ballot is a victory for the City of Los Angeles and its hospitality community as it prevents hotels from becoming homeless shelters and protects hotel employees who would have become the first line of care, according to local and national hotel associations.

“This solution ensures that our hotel community is thriving and able to continue providing excellent careers and economic benefits to our iconic neighborhoods throughout Los Angeles,” said Heather Rozman, president/CEO, Hotel Association of Los Angeles.

Lynn S. Mohrfeld, president/CEO, California Hotel & Lodging Association, added, “We are grateful to Mayor [Karen] Bass and Council President Paul Krekorian for finding the path to a common-sense solution, protecting our hotel employees—especially housekeepers—our guests and Los Angeles’ reputation.”

“For nearly two years, Unite Here [the sponsor of the measure] created an atmosphere of dangerous uncertainty for hotel employees, hoteliers and the City of Los Angeles by clinging to a proposal virtually everyone thinks is outrageous—forcing hotels to house homeless people next to paying guests,” said Chip Rogers, president/CEO, American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA). “We thank the L.A. City Council for helping to broker a compromise to get the Homeless-In-Hotels measure off the ballot.”

AHLA on Supreme Court ruling in hotel case

In more AHLA news, after the U.S. Supreme Court vacated and remanded the case of Acheson Hotels LLC v. Laufer to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, Rogers released the following statement:

“Tester lawsuits, in which plaintiffs file hundreds of legal complaints against hotels seeking quick settlements, have become a cottage industry in the U.S. In this case, a hotel decided to fight this scheme and in doing so shed light on the extortive practice. The Americans with Disabilities Act is a critical civil rights law, but this case was never about legal compliance. It was about whether serial litigants with no intention of becoming hotel guests have standing to sue hotels. While we would have welcomed a broader ruling, the Supreme Court today sent a message to other serial litigants against ‘manipulating the jurisdiction of the [Supreme Court],’ and revealed how the court ‘might exercise its discretion differently in a future case.’ Because Acheson and the hotel industry fought back, the plaintiff dismissed hundreds of suits against hotels and vowed to the court she would never again bring these types of claims. This will bring some solace to small business hoteliers who for years have been victimized by drive-by and click-by tester lawsuits.”

The issue before the Court was whether the plaintiff had standing to sue the hotel under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) without any intention of visiting the property. The court dispensed with the case on procedural grounds because, shortly after it agreed to hear the case, Laufer dismissed this case and hundreds of similar lawsuits she had filed. She further asserted to the Supreme Court she would not bring other similar lawsuits in the future.

The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) supported the litigation effort over the past year and filed an amicus brief in support of Acheson Hotels along with the Restaurant Law Center, the National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center and five AHLA partner state associations.