Lawsuit
The Causes
This adds to the woes of countless hotel, motel, inn, and lodging owners, because eliminating bed bugs from even one room comes at a high cost. Exterminators have a difficult job killing bed bugs; chemical baits aren’t effective since bed bugs feed only on blood, and DDT is banned. Plus, it takes several visits to find and destroy all of the bugs and their eggs. To eradicate a full-blown infestation throughout a building could cost $50,000 to $60,000. Methods include pyrethroid chemicals as well as applications of cold, heat, steam and vacuuming. However, bedbugs have been responsible for several new businesses, such as one in San Francisco which freezes all contents from an apartment for 48 hours to kill bed bugs, at $2,000 per unit. A New York company, K-9 Bedbug Detection Services, relies on trained beagles to sniff out bed bugs in upscale condos, hotels, and nursing homes at an average price of $1200. However, since bed bugs can live 12 months without a meal, making a room off limits for weeks after treatment may not help, either. The bedbugs may still lurk in cracks no wider than an envelope, or a new batch may arrive in someone else’s luggage.
The Responses
To fend off such horrors, some hotels request guests to take showers before entering a room; they’re given track suits and slippers to wear while their clothes are cleaned, and one Las Vegas hotel replaces guests’ luggage with new suitcases. Such actions sound extreme, but even one customer who claims to be the victim of bed bugs can cost the facility untold money in lawsuits and loss of business. (It is estimated that bed bug reports cost the Australian tourism industry $75 million every year.)
To avoid lawsuits and negative publicity, most property owners settle bed bug claims out of court-at much less than the reported one of $150,000 from Helmsley Enterprises in 2004. On the advice of lawyers and insurers, many hoteliers are initiating bed bug lawsuit plans and raising their rates to do so. A quick summary of recent cases would convince any property owner of the rationale behind doing so:
2003- $382,000 punitive and compensatory damages awarded to two Chicago plaintiffs
2004- 45% rent abatement for six-months to a New York apartment tenant
2007- A woman is claiming infestation by hundreds of bed bugs in a cheap motel during her recuperation from breast cancer. Rose M. Pagley-Brown is suing the Stone Motel in Arkansas, alleging “pain and mental anguish, embarrassment and humiliation, medical bills and expenses” from countless bug bites and visible bugs in her bed. The owner denies the allegations, claiming his business had passed two recent pest inspections.
2007-Plaintiffs claimed that bed bug pesticide spraying at Wichita State University made them ill.
2008-Three apartment tenants in Chicago are suing for bedbug injuries.
2008-An opera singer initiated a lawsuit against the Hilton Corporation for $6 million. The alleged injuries involve over 150 bed bug bites.
In comparison, in 2005, a couple acquired bed bug bites and scabies from a Washington-State hotel, but ended up receiving only $4,000 through small claims court to cover financial losses. The individuals felt that lawyers didn’t see enough money in the case to take it and the issue wasn’t considered newsworthy by the media.
Other Litigation Concerns
Insurance often fails to cover total litigation costs; for example, punitive damages are not insurable. Plus, if managers have been negligent in dealing with bed bug infestations, numerous insurers won’t pay any claims.
Bed bug lawsuits have recently been filed against cruise lines, rental furniture companies, laundromats, and dry cleaners. Furthermore, now landlords are suing pest control companies, just as more bedbug victims are suing public municipalities. It is expected that soon there will be addendums to lease agreements which hold tenants responsible for bedbug infestations.
When it comes to hotels, bed bug claims are among the top frauds perpetrated against hotels, according to Thomas Jones, an associate professor at the University of Nevada. In response, one New York hotel displays a “bedbug alert free” certification in their lobby-but it is in the minority when it comes to bringing up the issue of bed bugs. Most lodgings don’t want guests thinking about bedbugs. (If and when they do utilize bug-sniffing dogs, guests are told the canines are checking for mold.)
The National Pest Management Association (NPMA) says bed bugs themselves are reproducing in surprising amounts, by more than 500 percent over the past few years. Yet, these numbers have minimal impact on most hotels, with state-of-the-art sanitation and strict standards of laundering, drying, vacuuming and bedbug-proof mattress covers. The Best Western is typical in its use of a regularly administered pest control program and a trained and knowledgeable housekeeping staff. Such practices should keep bed bugs and lawsuits to a minimum.
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CHICAGO - A Chicago woman is suing a New York hotel for $20 million after she woke up in her bed with moreover 600 bed bug bites.
Leslie Fox, a 54 year-old booking agent, said that after spending four nights last July at the Nevele Hotel in Ellenville, New York, she woke up with red, irritated, itchy welts all over her body.
“My body felt as if it was on fire. I just wanted to tear it off!”
“I had no idea what was happening to me. We noticed the blood on the bed. I became very upset and alarmed,” she said.
Her husband was also bitten, but it was not nearly as severe as his wife’s.
The bugs were sent to teh UIC lab and were found to in-fact be bed bugs.
After the report was made to hotel officials, they were offere two free nights at the hotel. But Leslie Fox and her lawyer declined the offer.
Joe O’Connor, the hotel’s lawyer, said he and his client have not seen the lawsuit so he couldn’t comment on the matter. He said the Nevelel hotel in New York has frequent treatment and inspection measure in place being done by professional pest control companies.
O’Connor also stated that he had called the lawyer who filed the initial suit and was “trying to work things out.”
This is one of many suits filed in the US recently claiming bed bugs have attacked people.
Bed bugs are bloodsucking parasites, however, they do not transmit diseases. Their bites are usually painless, and it can take several days for bite indications to even be visible on the body.
Red welts and irritation disipate after a week or so, but one doctor says each person will react a little differently to the bed bug bites.
Leslie Fox, who has seen multiple dermotologists, stated that she’s still dealing with the problem. Fox claims to be scarred and mentally-stressed whenever she sleeps in a motel and is afraid that she may have inadvertantly brought home bed bug eggs that could hatch.
She stated that she now travels with a flashlight and a magnifying glass to help her locate bed bugs.