BY: Lisa Esser-Weidenfeller | IN: Personal Injury
During a January 30, 2020, hearing, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation in Tampa, Florida, is expected to establish a federal docket for dozens of lawsuits accusing major hotel chains of failing to implement policies to prevent sex trafficking activities on their premises.
Survivors have filed lawsuits in Michigan, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia.
Dozens of hotels are named in these actions, including:
- Best Western
- Choice Hotels
- Days Inn
- Econo Lodge
- Economy Inn
- Extended Stay America
- Hilton
- Holiday Inn
- Inter-Continental Hotel
- La Quinta
- Marriott
- Microtel Inn and Suites
- Motel 9
- Ramada
- Red Lion Hotel
- Red Roof Inn
- Wyndham
The lawsuits assert various violations of law, including the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. The first claims were filed in 2019, but thousands are expected to follow in 2020 and beyond.
A petition before the Judicial Panel seeks to have the cases consolidated before Chief Judge Algenon L. Marbley of the Southern District of Ohio, who has expended considerable time and resources to advance human trafficking protections. Sex slavery is pervasive in the U.S., and hotels are the primary venue for sex trafficking. The petition asserts there is evidence the hotel chains have been fully aware of the illegal activities on their properties for years.
The sexual abuse attorneys at Sommers Schwartz fight for the rights of sex trafficking survivors against the hotel chains that provided the locations for these insidious acts. If you or a loved one is a survivor and was trafficked in a hotel or motel, please contact attorney Lisa Esser-Weidenfeller, who has experience representing survivors of sexual abuse, including most recently survivors of physician Larry Nassar. Consultations are free, and your identity will be protected at every step along the way.
Lisa Esser-Weidenfeller
Lisa Esser-Weidenfeller represents injury victims in personal injury and medical malpractice claims. She also represents individuals in cases against those who have committed horrific acts of sexual assault.
