new Ohio Hilton bed bug lawsuit
By nobugsonme on Aug 1, 2007 in bed bugs, bedbugs, big business, hotels, lawsuits, legal
LegalNewsline.com reports on a new bed bug case proceeding in New York’s Southern District.
A woman spent two nights in a Hilton in Ohio, got 150 bed bug bites, and is proceeding with a $5 million dollar lawsuit charging physical scarring, emotional distress, and embarrassment.
The plaintiff, Sai Kim, alleges that she checked into Room 336 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Columbus, Ohio on March 26 during a business trip. After a two-night stay in the room, Kim allegedly discovered more than 150 bed-bug bites on her hands, feet, face, fingers, toes, legs, neck, back, chest, stomach and genitals.
“As a direct result of exposure to bed bugs,” the complaint alleges, the plaintiff “was left physically scarred and emotionally damaged and that these consequences were a direct result of the defendant’s negligence.”
The complaint alleges that the Hilton Corporation breached its duty to provide reasonably safe accommodations, which in turn led to “embarrassing injury and tremendous emotional distress.”
On the one hand, my sympathies go out to anyone who pays for a hotel room and suffers what must be the presence of a very large infestation (assuming somewhere between 50 and 150 bed bugs bit her in the space of two nights).
On the other hand, to people who suffer months of discomfort from bed bugs, receive many more bites, and suffer a much more prolonged disruption to home, health, and sanity, who are far more damaged and yet not in the position to sue a landlord in this way, it seems unfair that someone in this position would be able to seek such a large payout.
So what did Hilton say?
In its answer to the complaint, Hilton denied negligence and asserted contributory negligence and assumption of risk on the plaintiff’s part. The corporation’s answer also cast blame on the owner/operator of the hotel in question.
I’m interested in the assertion of the plaintiff’s “contributory negligence.” Her “assumption of risk” (as in, presumably, “sleep here at your own risk?) is more apparent. However, like the swimming pool with no lifeguard attendant, perhaps hotels need to hang up a sign stating that we’re risking bed bugs when we sleep there.
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Bugalina | Aug 1, 2007 | Reply
As much as I deplore predatory litigation I somehow feel that this woman is justified. If I woke up from a hotel with that many bites on me I would be completely freaked out. I think that these kinds of lawsuits will force the accomodations industry to demand something more effective and reliable to kill bed bugs. From the very beginning I have said that big business must feel the pain in their wallet. The only way the regular folks can get attention is when big business hurts….Bed bugs are going to be a scourge on the economy…When Australia admitted to their bed bug epidemic they came forth with the fact that their accomodations industry lost billions of dollars…
parakeets | Aug 2, 2007 | Reply
I think the CEO of Hilton Hotels should go and sleep in Room 336–to show everyone he is willing to take on the same “assumption of risk” that he asked his hotel guests to bear.
Would a major hotel chain ever have a policy that their own executive officers stay overnight, say once a month, in their hotels (the particular hotel location and room chosen by random number generator)? No, it won’t happen because hotel executives know of the bedbug problem, no matter what they say in lawsuits. They don’t tell their customers about bedbugs, so how could there be an “assumption of risk” if non one is told.
How many people are going to avoid staying in hotels? It’s not just us here. I know many people who never had bedbugs who are now afraid to stay in hotels because of bedbugs. Some of them futily try to avoid a problem of bedbugs by staying in up-scale hotel chains. But if Hiltons have bedbugs, all hotels have bedbugs.
Bugalina | Aug 2, 2007 | Reply
So true Parakeets….What a line of BS…”assumption of risk”….If they want to play hardball like this, then my line of defense would be …OK..But from now on, whenever anyone checks into your Hilton Hotels you must have them sign an “assumption of risk disclaimer”. This disclaimer would clearly list the potential risks of the room you are renting. Top on the list would be NUMBER ONE…..There is a decent percentage of risk that the room you are renting for ( # of days) could potentially be infested with an insect called Climex Lecaris, commonly known as BED BUGS. These bugs are associated with the habits of a vampire, they appear at night while you are sleeping and will feed on your blood. The Hotel is waiving all responsibility for the health and financial risks associated with BED BUGS. SLEEP AT YOUR OWN RISK……
In very little almost impossible to read printing on the bottom of the disclaimer they will be legally bound to describe the bites, the potentials for anaphylatic shock/asthma attacks . They will have to say that the mean average cost for treating a 3 bedroom home is around $3000.00 ( depending on where you live ) and that loss of bedding and furniture is highly probable…
SO the DesK Clerk will now be legally required to have every guest sign an “assumption of risk disclaimer”, … If this is going to be the Hotels defense then they had better know what the consequences of it will be……
James Buggles | Aug 2, 2007 | Reply
The lawsuit is justified. And the hotel has deep pockets so the lawsuit is also feasible. Waivers do not always stand up in court. I doubt many courts would be sympathetic to a hotel that claims it’s up to guests to look for signs of bedbugs.
James Buggles | Aug 2, 2007 | Reply
NB, I’m sure what relevance the suffering of others has on this case. Litigation is not a zero sum game. If some guy gets struck by lightening while driving his car, why should that prevent someone else from filing a lawsuit when he is rear ended at a stoplight? Like it or not, without lawsuits, there would be many dangerous products and services in the marketplace.
Bugalina | Aug 2, 2007 | Reply
Buggles Its not a perfect world. Lawsuits , if added up, have probably done more good than harm. There should be some stopgap for frivolous lawsuits like the guy who sued the dry cleaner for 50 million for loss of pants. Has anyone looked at the photos of the woman who sued the CONCORD Hotel, up in the Catskills…She was covered with bites. It was horrifying. Buggles I know disclaimers don’t always hold up in court but I am trying to point out how ludicrious it is to say that the Hotel’s liability stops at “assumption of risk”…it is ridiculous to “assume” this. If I woke up looking like that woman from the Concord or with bites all over me, I would sue too. Hotels absolutely cannot expect their guests to assume that there is a possibility of being mauled by bed bugs or bringing them home. Its happening now because the vast majority of people are still unawares of this fast growing epidemic, being kept in the dark deliberately by big business. But if this epidemic continues too grow as per the foretelling of professionals like Doggett “current outbreaks are part of a global epidemic, with the number of bed bugs worldwide doubling each year”, then Hotels are going to have to fund research and do what they must to insure their guests a bed bug free room. Until then, as far as I am concerned, the onus is on them.
nobugsonme | Aug 2, 2007 | Reply
James,
I didn’t say this lawsuit was affected in any way by the fact that tenants suffer far more with a home infestation and can’t sue in this way. I was just remarking on the disjunct there.
Bugalina,
I believe you mean the Catskills case regarding the Chicago woman, Leslie Fox, who stayed at the Nevele Hotel–not the Condorde– and was bit 500 times?
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/hotels/2006-03-08-bedbugs-catskills_x.htm
But there’s a twist to this case. Other papers reported that Fox returned to the same hotel
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/030906BedbugBites.html
North Country Gazette said:
” But hotel attorney Joe O’Connor says that the couple returned later that summer. Fox says it was because her husband was under contract to give a lecture and she wanted to attend. O’Connor says the second stay negates her claim because it shows that she was willing to stay in the same section of the hotel two weeks later.”
I realize this may not legally affect the suit (I am not a lawyer), but it does make one suspicious of the validity of the claim. If you were bitten 500 times over six nights, would you return and stay in the same part of the hotel two weeks later?!?!? I can tell you there are other hotels in the Ellenville, NY region, where she could have stayed. And I am sure that they would have been allowed to drop the booking by the hotel, considering their experience.
Bugalina | Aug 2, 2007 | Reply
Nobugs…That is the case I am referring to…I saw the photos of her body so i know she couldn’t have made that up. Did you see the photos?? I believe they showed them on TV as well as online. She was mauled…however I didn’t know that she returned to the hotel. But there could be some justification of this. When this happened, a few years ago, the habits of bed bugs were not really known to the average person. She could have been ignorant to the fact that bed bugs travel ..she might have truly believed that only that one room had a problem….To the uninformed person, that seems like a reasonable assumption. Now we all know better. Prior to my bed bug education I would have been as unenlightened as most, like my friend who said to me ” why don’t you just throw your bed away”….So maybe this woman thought that only that room posed a danger and that after it was “cleaned” that was the end of the problem…little did she know….that would be my defense….I do think the photos of her bites were very serious…I don’t think that because she returned it negated her case….her lack of knowledge about bed bugs could account for her naivete.
nobugsonme | Aug 3, 2007 | Reply
Bugalina,
She could not have made up that she had had bed bug bites. I suppose it raises the question of whether she got them somewhere else, and then went to the hotel and claimed it happened there. I am not saying that happened, but I think it was suspicious.
I don’t personally buy her assuming it was just the one room. Of course just one hotel room can be infested, but I think most people would not be willing to risk it, even knowing nothing about bed bugs.
Let me put it this way: this question is for anyone who was bitten in a hotel: would you go back to the hotel, to stay in another room, without assurance the place had been tested or treated?
Bugalina | Aug 4, 2007 | Reply
I am not at all suspicious of her. I don’t think she would moved forward with a lawsuit unless there were signs of bed bugs all over that room, once it was examined. I would imagine this was documented in her lawsuit. To get that many bites, the mattress and room had to have been very infested. Of course she wouldn’t have known this, unless she was looking for it. We are all well aware of how well bed bugs can hide. The cleaning staff probably ignored all the signs. Those large Catkills Hotels have been neglected over the years, so it didn’t suprise me that a room there could get so infested. I hope this hotel paid a large price for their negligence.
David Belvin | Apr 21, 2008 | Reply
I totally sympathise with this person.
I recently stayed at the Hilton Riverside in New Orleans and got multiple bits on both lower legs.
Reported to hotel and they documented,photo and offered me gifts from the Gift Shop.
Hilton subsequently turned the claim over to their risk management group,SRS, who immediately denied any responsibility.
Now I understand why, they fear another lawsuit.
Hilton will not share inspection reports or treatment of room, but at adiment their have no responsibility.
After reading these posting I will now pursue furhter options.
fightorflight | Apr 23, 2008 | Reply
Going back to the beginning, I think I basically agree with Bugalina and have said this before. I welcome these lawsuits because I am hoping they will motivate the hospitality industry to throw more money into R&D for finding easier, more effective and cheaper bedbug treatments.
bryana g | May 4, 2008 | Reply
the cases get more and more outrageous as they go. im doing a repot on bed bugs and i now have a new respectfor the phrase “dont let the bed bugs bite”