Stacey Belle spent the night at Red Roof Inn in Oxon Hill, Maryland and ended up with 31 bed bug bites and hired Daniel W. Whitney of Whitney LLP to file a lawsuit against those responsible according to the law-firm’s website – Belle ended up winning $100,000.00; that’s $2,941 per bite and that has to hurt!
Note to hotel owners: You MUST have a bed bug policy in place! The policy should clearly explain what housekeeping should do if they find bed bugs, what management should do when made aware of an infestation and how often bed bug inspections and treatment should occur.
In this case, the law-firm claimed that Red Roof Inn had a protocol in place but management didn’t professionally treat the room before allowing Belle to sleep in it even though her room had been quarantined because of bed bugs weeks before.
Although this image has been modified to fit on this website, it shows bed bug bites on the arm – you can obtain a copy of the lawsuit and exhibits from the Circuit Court for Prince George County.
A photo of Stacey Belle and the attorneys that won this case for her is on the lawfirm’s website.
Case Details:
Case Number: CAL14-12532
Bed Bug Lawsuit Description: Belle vs FMW RRI I LLC filed on 06/12/2014
Plaintiff/Petitioner: Stacey Belle
Defendant/Respondent Information
Defendant Party #2: FMW RRI I LLC
Defendant Party #7: RRI West Management LLC
Defendant Party #3: Red Roof Inns Inc
Attorney Information
Name: Daniel W Whitney
Address: WHITNEY LLP, Towson, MD 21204
Name: Mark J Strong
Address: 100 South Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21202
In most of all the lawsuits we’ve reviewed, a bed bug policy didn’t exist or wasn’t followed which lost the case for the hotel. In the cases where the hotel won, the victim didn’t properly document their bites and notify management.
Think $100,000 is a lot of money, how about a 7 million dollar lawsuit over bites!