Pennsylvania State health inspectors have reported a Holiday Inn east of Lancaster was using one of its guests rooms to store perishable food. When one of the facility’s commercial refrigerators stopped working, hotel operators rushed to find another location for its contents.

Apparently, Room #102 looked like a great spot to park the perishables. A hotel employee tipped off the authorities, and an inspector found the room filled with boxes of thawed items. When the inspector asked the owners about their storage location choice, they pointed out they had turned the air conditioning on its coldest setting — and that it should have been enough to prevent the food from spoiling.

The same inspector said that the 65-degree temperature in the room wasn’t nearly cold enough to be safe.

You don’t need to be a lawyer — or an insurance broker — to see this suit was a dud from the very beginning. Before agent Steve Kaplan sat down to see the movie “Superbad” at New York’s Lincoln Square Cinema, he picked up some overpriced popcorn from the concession stand.

Midway through the movie, Kaplan said he bit down on a kernel of unpopped corn, causing $1,250 in dental damages.

Kaplan took the theater chain to Manhattan Civil Court, where Judge Matthew Cooper threw the case out. The injury was Kaplan’s own fault, said Cooper, and he couldn’t reasonably expect every kernel of corn to be popped.

Here’s a good rule of thumb to use in your workplace: If a bag of popcorn is a serious danger to any of your co-workers, you should probably avoid contact with them as much as possible.

Soon after coming under fire for spending $440,000 on an executive retreat, the folks at AIG have learned they shouldn’t be spending so lavishly — at least, not in the public eye.

Hidden cameras at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort in Phoenix recently caught AIG execs poolside and at the spa. One difference this time: The company made significant efforts to disguise the conference by hiding logos, signs and even operating under a pseudonym.

So far, the cost of the conference is estimates at $343,000 — which is at least lower than the company’s last outing — but AIG claims most of those expenses will be recouped from product sponsors at the event.

Frank Hughes, owner of the Olympic Scaffolding Co., in Bootle, England, was confused when a council official came into his small office and demanded to inspect his “industrial waste.”

As part of a nationwide law, British companies that produce any industrial waste must now have a proper license displayed at all times. But Hughes office, usually occupied by himself and his wife, had no such waste to declare.

Hughes claimed the only trash the small office produced were used tea bags and sandwich cling wrap. A state inspector said those items qualified as industrial waste and wrote a $500 ticket for the violation. When Hughes mentioned that he took the trash home with him every night to dispose of it, the official said he’d need to save the waste up for a week and then pay a licensed waste collector to remove the rubbish.

Making sure employee terminations go as smoothly as possible is never easy. That’s no excuse for dropping the ax like these companies.

For weeks, media site Gawker has been collecting layoff horror stories. But nasty-worded memos and poor timing can’t hold a candle to three stand-out stories:

1. An employee who worked in HR was asked to collate and staple the exit packages for a major reduction-in-force. A day after he’d completed assembling the packages, he was handed his own personal copy.
2. An 18-year veteran at a publishing company was laid off from her job on a day that she was out sick. However, her boss wasn’t the person who broke the news: The employee’s 19-year-old son had also been terminated that day. Instead of making two calls, the boss asked the son to inform his mother she’d been let go.
3. A non-tech-savvy boss didn’t know how to save documents in different folders, so important memos and other pieces of correspondence were kept in the same location. An employee named Sylvia was going into the folder to retrieve a memo when she noticed a document titled: “SylviaFired.doc.” After opening the letter, the employee saw that her own dismissal form was full of misspellings and other grammatical errors. She decided to clean up the form — and it was her final project at the company.

Know a story about a termination that wasn’t thought through as well as it should have been? Share it in the comments section below.

The couple — whose names haven’t been released by authorities — were traveling from Germany back to their home in Sweden when border patrols stopped their van. An inspection revealed they had 4.2 liters of hard liquor, 27 liters of wine and a whopping 2,692 liters of beer.

Authorities subsequently searched the couple’s home and found even more alcohol — in total, they’d brought 24,000 cans of beer into the house. Along with the stash was a journal which included people’s names and addresses, along with different types and amounts of beer.

Police officials assumed the ledger was a master list for an on-going smuggling operation, but the couple claimed the alcohol was for personal use. They had upcoming birthdays, wedding parties and holiday celebrations to purchase alcohol for, and figured they’d get it from Germany, where the goods were taxed at a much lower rate.

After hearing the couple’s explanation, the court threw out the smuggling charges and ordered the alcohol supply be returned.

Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) has developed a “revolutionary” new product that can help busy employees fit a little more time into their already-packed days: a shower suit.

The specially designed garment requires no soaking, soap or dry cleaning, and was made so that a common shower head could power away any scents or stains. So far, 17,000 of the garments have been ordered, most of which are for the Japanese market.

A Japanese researcher working for AWI came up with the concept. The secret is its minimal lining, which allows the suit to dry far quicker than normal fabrics. According to the company, it’s ideal for busy executives and employees who either travel frequently or stay up late.

That’s what happened with the non-profit Research Triangle Institute of North Carolina. The company was contracted to teach Iraqi citizens about building local governments and representative councils.

During regular business, the contractor somehow misplaced $185,481. But instead of eating that loss, the company claimed it as an “expense” and asked the U.S. government to replace it. The result? Not only was the loss covered, but the Triangle Institute was also paid tens of thousands more in special overhead fees and other costs related to replacing the money.

The incident was recently released in a report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, which notes the loss is minor compared to Triangle’s total $598-million contract with the U.S.

When Chicago officials signed a policy which outlawed driving while gabbing on cell phones, it seemed like a good way to improve vehicle safety and reduce accidents city-wide. Any motorists caught violating the law have their licenses confiscated.

But when city Alderman Tom Tunney was pulled over last year for violating the law he helped put into effect, he pulled a power card. After returning to his office — sans-license — Tunney called Town Hall District Commander Gary Yamashiroya and asked why officers in “an understaffed police district were assigned to pull people over solely for cell phone violations.”

Yamashiroya quickly ordered an officer to return the confiscated license to the alderman’s office.

After an in-depth investigation by Chicago P.D.’s Internal Affairs Division, both Yamashiroya and Tunney were cleared of any wrong-doing. Soon after, Mayor Richard Daley introduced a new ordinance that altered the cell phone rule. Distracted motorists would still receive a ticket for the violation, but they’d be able to hang onto their licenses and contest the tickets by mail or an administrative hearing.

Still waiting for inspiration to strike before tackling your latest project? Bad news: That eureka moment probably won’t show up until you’re long gone from the office.

If you’ve ever felt like you couldn’t possibly get anything constructive done — let alone after 4 p.m. — the latest survey shows you’re not alone. According to the poll by Crowne Plaza Hotels, the least creative and productive time in the day is 4:33 p.m. A full 92% of people admitted this is when they feel least inspired.

So when’s the optimal time to get work done? A full 25% of respondents said they burned the midnight oil when looking for inspiration. After pooling together the data, the survey says 10:04 p.m. is when your brainwaves are functioning at their peak.

Can’t stay up that late waiting for some creative juices? Nearly half (44%) of people cited taking a shower as the best way to coax a mental breakthrough. Bathrooms and running water may have more to do with creativity and productivity that you might think. Archimedes coined the phrase “Eureka!” after spilled bathwater helped him figure out how to measure volume.

And when that moment of inspiration finally arrives, be sure to write down the idea. The research showed that 58% of people forget their best ideas when they fail to get them on paper.

When’s your most productive time of day? Is it first thing in the morning? Are Mondays or Fridays a lost cause when it comes to getting things done? Share your tips and tricks in the comments section below.