If you are paying for a place to stay – be it an apartment or a hotel room – you have the right to expect that the building is safe and secure. This is why apartments have building keys and separate keys for each unit, and why hotels have room keys.
Unfortunately, security protocols are only as good as those who enforce them. When hotel staff members give out room keys without checking identification, for instance, the paying occupants of those rooms are put in danger.
A situation like the one described above is the basis of a lawsuit filed earlier this month by a woman in the Midwest. She alleges that she was assaulted in her Super 8 hotel room due to negligent security.
According to the lawsuit, the woman was staying with her fiancé in a hotel room in the Chicago area two years ago. She was four months pregnant at the time. That night, another woman came to the hotel desk and introduced herself as the man’s fiancé. She asked for a room key and the clerk gave her one without first calling the room or asking for the woman’s ID.
The woman then went to the room and allegedly assaulted the plaintiff. It is unclear if the two knew each other prior to this incident, but it ultimately does not matter. Guests at a hotel have a reasonable expectation of security, and this incident appears to have been a major security breach on the part of the hotel staff.
Here in New York, security is a major concern and rightly so. If you or a loved one was injured in your apartment or anywhere else due to negligent security, you may be able to pursue appropriate compensation in a civil lawsuit.
Source: The Chicago Tribune, “Woman sues hotel, claims lack of security led to beating,” Sally Ho, Oct. 10, 2014
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