Over the past year, Seattle has become the main battleground for the industry and the hospitality union’s dueling interests. Two years ago, voters approved a ballot measure mandating panic buttons and instituting a system that would place guests accused of sexual misconduct on a blacklist, which would make hotel workers aware of their presence but not bar them.

Under the ordinance, if a hotel worker makes a sworn statement accusing a guest of sexual misconduct or if evidence supports the accusation, the guest would be barred from returning to that hotel for three years. If the worker makes the accusation without signing an affidavit, the guest’s name will be added to the list for five years. If the worker agrees, the hotel should report the allegations to the police.

In late 2016, the American Hotel and Lodging Association, the main trade group representing major hotel chains, and other local trade organizations sued the city over the ordinance. The groups argued that requiring hotel management to bar and blacklist guests would violate guests’ due-process rights.

“That told us loud and clear that the industry was more concerned about their guests’ comfort level than protecting their employees from sexual harassment,” said Erik Van Rossum, the president of Unite Here’s chapter in the Northwest, which covers Seattle and Portland, Ore.

The hotel and lodging association counters that workers’ safety is a top priority. But Katherine Lugar, the association’s president, said it objected to the ordinance partly because “we don’t believe it’s prudent to put a Seattle employee in the position of acting as a surrogate for law enforcement.”

In June 2017, a judge ruled in favor of the city, but the trade groups appealed and were back in court arguing their case this month.

While the hotel trade group fights these rules, it has embraced panic buttons as worth a significant financial investment. Chicago officials estimated that a hotel security system including panic buttons with tracking capabilities would cost about $100 per room. The lower-tech option that emits an audible alarm is about $25 per device, a Hyatt spokeswoman said.