Hotel groups are suing San Francisco over a law passed this month that mandates daily, intensive room cleanings to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The suit, being filed Monday in San Francisco Superior Court, seeks an injunction to void the Healthy Buildings ordinance, which hotel groups say endangers workers by exposing them to surfaces that may be contaminated. The groups also allege that the law will financially burden hotels that are already struggling and that it improperly overrides state and federal health guidelines. The daily cleanings are the strictest requirements in the country.
The lawsuit, filed by the Hotel Council of San Francisco, California Hotel & Lodging Association and the American Hotel & Lodging Association, escalates a clash over regulations as the city moves to reopen the economy. Hotels would resume business during Phase 3 of the city’s reopening plan, which does not have a confirmed date, though some rooms have been converted to house the homeless.
“This is going to create hardship for an industry that is already suffering,” said Kevin Carroll, CEO of the Hotel Council of San Francisco. “It’s unenforceable. It’s overreaching.”
City officials didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The law requires the cleaning and disinfecting of all surfaces in guest rooms that have been occupied in the previous 24 hours. Hotel groups want rooms to be cleaned after a guest checks out rather than daily. Daily cleaning was previously the norm, but it was never mandated by the city and did not have to be as thorough. Some hotels previously provided incentives to guests who opted out of daily cleaning; the new law also forbids them from offering incentives.
The law also requires that common areas of hotels and large office buildings be cleaned and disinfected multiple times a day.
The lawsuit alleges that the law is an “unsafely misguided attempt to create work for hotel employees, namely housekeepers,” and boost the membership of the hotel labor union Unite Here Local 2, which supported the law.
Anand Singh, president of Unite Here Local 2, told The Chronicle this month that opposition from hotel owners was based on greed, rather than concerns over worker safety. He said coronavirus outbreaks in hotels in other cities such as Las Vegas demonstrated that stronger regulations were required. Hotel groups noted that major outbreaks have yet to be reported in California hotels.
Roland Li is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: roland.li@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rolandlisf
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July 20, 2020 at 11:30PM
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Hotel groups sue San Francisco over coronavirus daily room cleaning law - San Francisco Chronicle
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