ADA in Action: Access, Compliance & Claims (Presented by HospitalityLawyer.com)

Stephen Barth, founder | HospitalityLawyer.com®

Stephen Barth, author of Hospitality Law and coauthor of Restaurant Law Basics, is an attorney, the founder of HospitalityLawyer.com, the annual Hospitality Law Conference series, and the Global Travel Risk Summit Series. As a professor at the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, University of Houston, he teaches courses in hospitality law and leadership. He is #3 on Global Guru’s Top 30 Hospitality Thought Leaders & Influencers for 2023. In addition to legal and travel risk mitigation insight, Stephen specializes in communicating the importance of Emotional Intelligence in leadership roles; and has provided valuable insight to many companies including The Methodist Hospital System, Wyndham Worldwide, Dine Equity, Business Travel News and Aramark. His fun, fast-paced presentations provide practical information and solutions to enhance your personal and professional life.

• Education & Credentials

He earned a B.A. in Economics, an M.A. in Communications, and a J.D. from Texas Tech University. His faculty profile also describes decades of work in hospitality law and leadership education, alongside litigation-support and expert-witness work in hospitality-related matters.

• Recognition & Leadership

He has received University of Houston teaching recognition, including the Career Teaching Excellence Award, and other teaching honors noted in his professional materials. He has also been recognized by Global Gurus in its hospitality rankings, including being listed as the #1 hospitality professional for 2022 and appearing in the 2023 and 2024 lists.

• Professional Involvement

His work includes building HospitalityLawyer.com as a platform serving hospitality lawyers and industry leaders with legal, safety, and risk-management resources. He is also associated with industry-facing conferences and summits that convene professionals around hospitality legal risk and travel risk management.

• Experience

Across more than three decades at the University of Houston’s Hilton College, his profile notes teaching and speaking activity at significant scale, including thousands of students taught, extensive publishing, and hundreds of industry presentations. His work also includes being retained in litigation contexts and contributing expertise on hospitality-related standards of care and operational risk.

Jordan B. Schwartz, Partner | Conn Maciel Carey LLP

Jordan B. Schwartz is a partner in the Labor & Employment practice at Conn Maciel Carey LLP, working from the firm’s Washington, DC office. His counseling and litigation work spans discrimination and harassment defense, trade secret and restrictive covenant disputes, and wage and hour claims. A substantial part of his practice involves representing property owners and managers against accessibility claims brought under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and he works extensively with clients in the hospitality, club, and retail sectors.

• Education & Credentials

Jordan earned his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 2002 and holds a B.A. from Duke University, awarded cum laude, in 1999. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York. His federal court admissions include the U.S. District Courts for the District of Columbia, the District of Maryland, the District of Colorado, and the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York.

• Recognition & Leadership

Jordan practices as a partner in the firm’s Labor & Employment group, with a concentration in ADA accessibility and wage and hour compliance. He is a frequently invited speaker, with recent engagements including the Choice Hotels International Annual Convention, The Hospitality Law Conference, the New England Inns (NEIRA) Annual Conference, the Resort Hotel Association (RHA) Annual Conference, and the Club Management Association of America.

• Professional Involvement

Jordan speaks regularly on workplace safety and employment topics and presents for the firm’s Labor & Employment Webinar Series. His practice areas at the firm include ADA Accessibility, Labor & Employment, Wage & Hour, Trade Secret and Restrictive Covenant matters, Whistleblower and Retaliation defense, Workplace Litigation, Audits and Internal Investigations, and Workplace Violence Prevention. Alongside his litigation work, he conducts employer training on harassment, discrimination, and diversity, and advises on drug testing policies and marijuana-related workplace questions.

• Experience

Jordan has defended hospitality owners and operators against Title III ADA suits brought by guests with disabilities over physical accessibility barriers, and has represented hotels, restaurants, and retail stores in litigation claiming their websites failed to comply with the ADA. His ADA counseling work includes on-site inspections, policy reviews, and website compliance assessments. His wage and hour matters include the defense of a retail company in a class action under the New York Labor Law concerning compensation of manual workers, and the defense of an employer in a case addressing child labor, overtime, meal break, and regular rate of pay compliance. He obtained a default judgment against a former employee and a successor employer arising from destruction of evidence and misappropriation of trade secrets. He has also defended religious discrimination claims tied to COVID-19 vaccine mandate compliance, defended a retail company against sexual harassment, sex discrimination, and retaliation claims, and conducted internal and external wage and hour audits.

SESSION 1 – ADA in Action: Access, Compliance & Claims | 12:00pm – 1:40pm 

This program examines practical ADA issues affecting hospitality businesses, including room distribution and dispersion, website accessibility, and the anatomy of an ADA claim or lawsuit. Through real-world examples, the session highlights where accessibility requirements intersect with day-to-day hotel operations and legal risk.

BREAK | 1:00pm – 1:10pm