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Queens Lawmaker Proposes "Panic Button" for Hotel Housekeepers
NBC New York ^ | May 23, 2011 | N/A

Posted on 05/23/2011 9:17:15 PM PDT by TheDingoAteMyBaby

A New York assemblyman says he wants the state to require hotels to provide their housekeepers with an emergency "panic button" that would help protect them from sexual assaults on the job.

Assemblyman Rory Lancman, a Democrat from Queens, said he will introduce the bill Monday. The move comes a week after former International Monetary Fund Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was charged with sexually assaulting a Manhattan hotel maid.

"We send hotel workers, housekeepers into rooms by themselves without any other staff, without any other security," Lancman said at a news conference Sunday outside the Sofitel Hotel, the site of Strauss-Kahn's alleged sexual assault of a hotel maid last week.

Lancman said attacks on hotel housekeepers are common, and though the incidents "may not be as brutal or as sensational" as the allegations in the Strauss-Kahn case, housekeepers are often inappropriately groped or propositioned.

Lancman referred to a New York Times article on Saturday highlighting the sexual affronts hotel housekeepers have long had to face.

The proposed legislation calls for hotels to provide a small device for housekeepers that would, at the touch of a button, trigger an audible alarm or alert hotel security.

He estimated a cost of $20 to $40 per device, though he said it would cost "significantly less" for hotels to buy in bulk.

The Associated Press said a review of court documents and news reports found at least 10 other hotel housekeepers who say they've been attacked in the U.S. in the last three years.

Labor groups said other cases are kept quiet because the victims are illegal immigrants or because hotels are wary of scaring off guests.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: New York
KEYWORDS: dsk; hotels; housekeepers; imf; maid; queens; strausskahn
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1 posted on 05/23/2011 9:17:19 PM PDT by TheDingoAteMyBaby
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To: TheDingoAteMyBaby

I wish I could pull down good taxpayer money for STUPID ideas.


2 posted on 05/23/2011 9:18:47 PM PDT by Mortrey (Impeach President Soros)
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To: TheDingoAteMyBaby

How about housekeepers buying themselves a whistle?


3 posted on 05/23/2011 9:22:10 PM PDT by Exit148
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To: TheDingoAteMyBaby

Oh for the love of pete!

Give Lancman the uberidiot of the year award!


4 posted on 05/23/2011 9:22:20 PM PDT by mylife
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To: TheDingoAteMyBaby

Oh for the love of pete!

Give Lancman the uberidiot of the year award!


5 posted on 05/23/2011 9:22:47 PM PDT by mylife
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To: TheDingoAteMyBaby

It would be cheaper just to ban foriegn elitist diplomats and Kennedy’s wouldn’t it?


6 posted on 05/23/2011 9:23:17 PM PDT by GeronL (The Right to Life came before the Right to Happiness)
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To: TheDingoAteMyBaby

10 of them in 3 years for the whole country?? Well by golly lets force every hotel to spend thousands to prevent this common everyday tragedy


7 posted on 05/23/2011 9:24:38 PM PDT by GeronL (The Right to Life came before the Right to Happiness)
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To: TheDingoAteMyBaby

They could just get them each a can of mace.

My guess is that this ‘lawmaker’ just happens to know a company that will sell these (be licensed), and who also happens to be a donor to that lawmaker’s campaign.


8 posted on 05/23/2011 9:24:38 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (Lame and ill-informed post)
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To: UCANSEE2

probably a brother-in-law or something


9 posted on 05/23/2011 9:25:26 PM PDT by GeronL (The Right to Life came before the Right to Happiness)
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To: UCANSEE2

I’d rather see them with a CCW and a handgun.


10 posted on 05/23/2011 9:33:09 PM PDT by meatloaf
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To: TheDingoAteMyBaby

Why do these buggers think that everything can be fixed with legislation?

Arm the housekeeping staff and be done with it. In fact, only 10% would need to be armed. Just don’t identify those who are.


11 posted on 05/23/2011 9:34:42 PM PDT by RobinOfKingston (An election is not a (national) suicide pact.)
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To: TheDingoAteMyBaby
Thanks for demonstrating the stupidity of the Nanny State Rory. You are a stooge.

Everyone knows that the fastest way to end this type of crime is to ban all Frenchmen from entering the US.

12 posted on 05/23/2011 9:36:10 PM PDT by Lazlo in PA (Now living in a newly minted Red State.)
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To: meatloaf

I can already see the lawsuits of maids claiming they pushed it and the batteries were dead or the thing never worked- I think they should just yell HELP- costs no money


13 posted on 05/23/2011 9:40:49 PM PDT by mriguy67
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To: TheDingoAteMyBaby

Maybe hotels should recruit more male housekeepers and give female employees the option to not work a room occupied by a single man.


14 posted on 05/23/2011 9:48:09 PM PDT by TheDingoAteMyBaby
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To: TheDingoAteMyBaby
This device costs even less, and lets you not only signal panic but also talk about less urgent issues at any time, wherever you are. Many facilities people in businesses carry those because in a large building you can't otherwise find anyone.

The gizmo with a button would be totally useless unless the hotel is wired with a complicated system of sensors that tell security where the owner of the gadget is. That wiring will cost you 100x more than the device itself because you need to drill holes, pull wires, etc. But a common FRS/GMRS radio allows the housekeeper to tell security where they are and what they are about to do. Police officers, for example, say "about to make contact" when approaching a suspicious suspect.

15 posted on 05/23/2011 9:54:56 PM PDT by Greysard
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To: TheDingoAteMyBaby

How about letting them carry concealed when on the job. Shoot a few of the rapist bast***s and the rape rate would drop suddenly.


16 posted on 05/23/2011 10:14:33 PM PDT by calex59
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To: TheDingoAteMyBaby

Best to leave the door open and have a chaperone outside. Surely luxury hotels have a bored bellhop hanging around somewhere.


17 posted on 05/23/2011 10:31:43 PM PDT by skr (May God confound the enemy)
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To: Exit148

Zero help when they are the only staff person on the fifth floor.


18 posted on 05/23/2011 10:42:35 PM PDT by MrEdd (Heck? Geewhiz Cripes, thats the place where people who don't believe in Gosh think they aint going.)
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To: meatloaf

Werd


19 posted on 05/23/2011 10:43:34 PM PDT by MrEdd (Heck? Geewhiz Cripes, thats the place where people who don't believe in Gosh think they aint going.)
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To: Mortrey

A couple of other STUPID things: A fluorescent handle that allows you to open your trunk if you are locked inside, and at least in Kentucky, a flashing strobe light on top of school buses. Both were passed because of ONE incident, and legislators had to show they “care” by “doing something”.


20 posted on 05/23/2011 11:31:34 PM PDT by boop ("Let's just say they'll be satisfied with LESS"... Ming the Merciless)
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