A convention boycott and several meeting cancellations in reaction to Arizona’s new immigration bill present planners with important legal issues to consider.
According to The Arizona Republic, 19 meetings have been cancelled and several other groups have taken Arizona off the list of sites under consideration as of May 2. The cancellations could have an economic impact of more than $6 million, the Arizona Hotel and Lodging Association said.
“For most of these groups cancelling, hotels are not letting them off the hook,” says Joshua Grimes, a hospitality attorney and legal counsel to the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association. “What is happening right now isn’t being contemplated in contracts.”
Two reasons groups typically get out of cancellation fees are “excuse of performance” (a significant number of invited people fail to register, rendering the meeting impractical) or “force majeure” (a catastrophic event occurs such as a disease outbreak, a hurricane, war or even hotel strikes).
Grimes says that a group cancelling as a result of a local or state law does not fall into either of those categories.
Grimes says he is currently drafting language for his clients to consider for meeting contracts that he refers to as “remedies for changes in law.”
“If leadership gets a high number of complaints about a local law that could lead to people saying, ‘We aren’t coming to the meeting,’ the planner would notify the hotel and say, ‘We could have a problem here,’” Grimes explains. “The hotel would have time to submit a statement to prospective attendees. If that statement satisfies enough members, the meeting could still be held. If the statement is rejected by enough attendees the hotel would forgive attrition and let the meeting go on or cancel the meeting without liability.”
Grimes emphasizes that his draft is still a work in progress, but it could prove useful to planners who want peace of mind.
“What are the odds that something like this is going to occur?” Grimes points out. “There is a very remote risk. But some hotels may be willing to take on that risk.”
