Three hospitality trade groups have filed a lawsuit against
the County of San Francisco, claiming that a new hotel cleaning ordinance puts
significant financial pressures on property owners and threatens employee
safety.
Signed into law by San Francisco Mayor London Breed on July
17, the “Healthy Buildings” ordinance mandates strict cleaning protocols for large
commercial office buildings and hotels, requiring the latter to implement daily
guestroom cleanings and frequent disinfection of various surfaces and fixtures.
The Hotel Council of San Francisco, the California Hotel and
Lodging Association and the American Hotel & Lodging Association argue that
many of the ordinance’s cleaning regulations are “costly and unnecessary” and
endanger staff by increasing employee contact with guests.
The three organizations filed their suit against the county
on July 20, asking the County of San Francisco to declare the ordinance
unlawful and unenforceable.
California Hotel and Lodging Association CEO Lynn Mohrfeld
said the group’s top concern is the county’s daily housekeeping requirement.
“We don’t think that’s safe for our employees,” said
Mohrfeld. “We don’t think they want to do that, and we don’t think guests want
that right now. Nobody else is requiring that. And while a guest can opt out
[of daily housekeeping], we really can’t encourage them or give them any incentive
to opt out.”
Mohrfeld added that because San Francisco is one of five
California jurisdictions still not open to leisure travel, the vast majority of
guests currently staying at hotels across the county are first responders,
medical personnel, transportation workers and other “populations that are more
at risk of transmitting Covid-19.”
The lawsuit also alleges that requirements around frequent
cleanings of hotel spaces, surfaces and fixtures are “overreach,” with Mohrfeld
calling these particular protocols “undefined and unclear.”
“They talk about cleaning things like ceilings, and even
meeting rooms, which are all closed right now,” said Mohrfeld. “We’re supposed
to clean those multiple times a day when no one is accessing them. Another example
is door handles, which we’re already cleaning in high-contact areas on a
regular basis. But under this ordinance, a hotel in San Francisco with 15%
occupancy, with floors and floors of rooms not in service, will need to clean
each room’s [exterior and interior] door handles multiple times a day. It doesn’t
make much sense.”
The California Hotel and Lodging Association estimates that
the additional cleaning protocols will cost San Francisco’s 215 hotels $220,000
each on average, adding a total of more than $47 million in annual industry
costs. Those expenses, the group argues, will likely have the knock-on effect
of extending hotel closures and unemployment.
“They’re throwing more and more costs on top of hotels at a
time when they just don’t have any money,” said Mohrfeld. “The ones that are
closed are going to stay closed longer, and that means their employees are
going to be out of work longer.”