A look at this year’s Hospitality & Food Service Theo Award winners.

Fifteen months into the role, Marriott’s new Vice President of Global Claims took a hard look at a workers’ compensation program that had largely run on autopilot for decades — and launched a methodical overhaul designed to bring consistency, speed, and a better associate experience to one of the world’s largest hospitality companies.

Panda Restaurant Group tackled a workers’ compensation crisis hiding in plain sight — building an in-house investigative team that cracked down on fraud and abuse while simultaneously making it easier than ever for genuinely injured employees to return to work.

New data from AmTrust Financial reveals that while cuts dominate restaurant injury statistics, muscle strains create the heaviest financial burden—costing nearly 500% more per claim than the industry’s most common injuries.

A look at this year’s Hospitality & Food Service Theo Award winners.

Starbucks transformed its workers’ comp program by supporting young employees holistically through empathy, mental health care and personalized recovery.

This restaurant chain reduced claim costs and improved safety with immediate interventions, nurse triage, and tailored return-to-work protocols.

A look at this year’s Hospitality & Food Service Theo Award winners.