Hilton Motels Hit with Document $44M Negligence Verdict for Facilitating a Sexual Assault of a Lodge Visitor

Lawsuit: Hotel staff did not protect victims in the 2017 attack

HOUSTON, November 23, 2021 / PRNewswire / – A Harris County Jury has returned $ 44 million Verdict against Hilton Management LLC after it was discovered that hotel staff had taken an unconscious and vulnerable guest to the wrong room, resulting in their sexual assault.

Lawyers out Blizzard Law Partnership with litigation attorney Michelle Simpson Tuegel Represent rape survivors Kathleen Dawson in the lawsuit against Hilton Management LLC and its accused attacker, Larry Clowerswho was an employee of Ms. Dawson at the time of the attack.

VIDEO – Click to listen Ed Blizzard discuss the case.

The jury agreed that Hiltons negligence played a major role in the March 2017 Incident and excellent Ms. Dawson $ 44 million for medical expenses, incapacity for work and emotional distress. The jury also found that Mr. Clower’s wife Dawson was sexually abused. It is considered to be the largest negligence verdict in a sexual assault proceedings against a large hotel.

“To see how an encounter can change a woman’s life forever is terrifying,” said the lawyer Ed Blizzard. “Understanding the crippling effect of this event on Ms. Dawson, these jurors delivered the largest known verdict for a victim of sexual assault against a large hotel group. This judgment sends a clear message to hotels that they must treat all of their guests, especially the vulnerable, with respect, care and dignity. “

According to a court testimony, a woman passes the downtown Hilton Americas-Houston hotel Houston called 911 when she saw a man with his trousers buckled and the zipper open, standing over an incapacitated woman lying on the floor. The police arrived and the hotel staff brought a wheelchair to transport Ms. Dawson, who was drunk and could not communicate or walk.

Although Ms. Dawson had ID in her purse, security could not determine that she was actually a guest with a room registered in her name. The staff also did not question Mr. Clower’s claim that “she is with me”.

The story goes on

Jurors in the trial watched a Hilton security video showing Ms. Dawson being escorted into Mr. Clower’s room by Hilton security and police. Ms. Dawson woke up early in the morning to being sexually assaulted.

“There are room key guidelines in place to prevent this from happening, but Hilton hasn’t even followed the most basic process anyone who has ever stayed at a hotel has ever seen: identifying the registered guest,” said Anna Greenberg, one of Ms. Dawson’s attorneys. “Worse, Hilton blamed the victim and sided with the alleged rapist, despite numerous videos and physical evidence supporting the attack.”

In her graduation, Ms. Tuegel argued, “Hilton Hotels, a company with security guards, guidelines and resources, a company that paid Kathleen to have a safe place to lay her head at night, paved the way for Kathleen’s sexual one Assaulted, like a rag doll in Hilton’s wheelchair, not led into the room she had registered and paid for, but into the room of a rapist. “

The case is Kathleen Ann Dawson compared to Hilton Management LLC and Larry Joe Clowers Jr., Case No. 2018-84453 at the 189th District Court in Harris County.

Media contact:
Alyssa Woulfe
800-559-4534
alyssa@androvett.com

Cision

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SOURCE Blizzard Law