Erin Andrews awarded $55 million by the jury

[AZOrange]

I wonder how much she will actually collect and how many years it will take to play out. The hotel is probably highly leveraged and will probably file bk. It will probably get appealed and then settled for a fraction of the award.

If Marriott files bankruptcy over 30 million in damages then we are all in trouble.

 

[manleyzoo]

i'm gonna disagree here. the hotel shouldn't be held liable for the actions of any perv who checks in. and he could have made that same video had he been booked 2 floors away. i've asked for a room near my friends and co workers hundreds of times. it's not at all an unusual request. plus at the the time this act happened probably 1 person out of one thousand could tell you who erin andrews was or who she worked for.unless there was printed out restraining order that every desk clerk in america was aware of i just don't see the negligence here. also what's there to prevent a couple of consenting people from staging this exact same type of situation and collecting millions ? it would be damn easy to pull off.

The issue has nothing to do with the perp's request. It has everything to do with the hotel's granting it. The hotel maintains an implied responsibility for the privacy of its guests. Your friends and co-workers have the implied right to say no to your request for next-door rooms based on their privacy rights. It has nothing to do with knowing one another. When you go to a hotel's front desk and ask for someone's room number the hotel's responsibility is to safeguard the privacy of its guests and deny your request without permission from the room occupant.

What the hotel did amounted to providing the perp with Andrews' room number in violation of her assumed right to privacy. Whether or not she's a public figure or a regular Jane she's the victim of the hotel's negligence. Moreover, attaching motives to her lawsuit such as she wanted to enrich herself is akin to blaming a rape victim for her assault. It's just as reprehensible.

 

[manleyzoo]

Well to be honest...if you don't know Erin personally (which I doubt some ESPN managers or their counsel did at the time)...what seemed more plausible:

1) A budding media superstar hottie released a nude video of herself to bolster her popularity (at a time when that kind of stuff seemed to happen regularly in Hollywood)

Or

2) Some random dude figured out what hotel room she was staying in on the road, drilled a hole in her hotel peep hole, replaced with a camera and filmed her naked without getting caught and then released it on the Internet.

ESPNs flaw was forcing her to go on a talk show to talk about it...instead of waiting for the police investigation to play out. Would anyone have been in shock if it turned out to be a publicity stunt?

Only every woman on the planet other than those named Kardashian likely would have been furious. Andrews' notoriety is hardly at the level of the Hollywood stars.

 

[Orangeman]

If Marriott files bankruptcy over 30 million in damages then we are all in trouble.

Marriott doesn't really own hotels

They lend their brand and booking system. Some owner/operator is probably done

This will probably bankrupt the hotel and alter the lives of hundreds of employees

Maybe they get rehired by the new Mgmt that will inevitably take over

No winners here

But $55m is utterly absurd

 

[upperdeck]

the number make no sense. i get the personal injury, then again im not sure i ever felt the need to walk around naked in the hotel room even when i was the only one in the room. i still struggle to see the punishment to the hotel fits the crime. if he had taken the pictures when she was in her back yard would he have gotten in as much trouble?

 

[Ghost]

Eh, the amount of money just throws me.

Her actual damages were about the same as if they did this to any regular gal or guy. Emotional distress. Not sure anyone else is cashing out with real money on this deal. Is her emotional distress more valuable because she's a celebrity?

Punitive? The bad press alone is enough to discourage them from ever doing it again.

What'd the lawyer ask for, like a $1 a view? lol So ridiculous.

 

[Eric15]

Would anyone have been in shock if it turned out to be a publicity stunt?

Jake, you by all accounts are a very reasonable person. The fact that you (and probably millions of other reasonable people like you) think that theres a chance she could have done this on purpose is all the more reason why she deserves every cent of that money.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

The fact that members of the jury asked for her autograph after the verdict is more than a little bizarre.

 

[Eric15]

As someone who works in real estate investment management, I hate that verdict against the hotel. Sets a bad precedent that you can be held liable for the perverted acts of your guests.

Do the hotels that you invest in compromise guest's security by giving out information of where they're staying and allow total strangers to stay next door? If so, you should probably call them and tell them not to do that.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

Do the hotels that you invest in compromise guest's security by giving out information of where they're staying and allow total strangers to stay next door? If so, you should probably call them and tell them not to do that.

I'm not in the hotel space. Doesn't mean this verdict won't potentially have a negative effect on all general liability insurance rates.

 

[manleyzoo]

As someone who works in real estate investment management, I hate that verdict against the hotel. Sets a bad precedent that you can be held liable for the perverted acts of your guests.

It doesn't set that precedent at all. It does affirm that hotels are liable for infringing on their guests' right to privacy, which in Andrews' case the hotel violated. The DA held the perv liable for his crime.

 

[Eric15]

But $55m is utterly absurd

What would you have awarded her? $100 and a signed copy of Bill O'Reilly's "Killing Lincoln" book?

 

[manleyzoo]

the number make no sense. i get the personal injury, then again im not sure i ever felt the need to walk around naked in the hotel room even when i was the only one in the room. i still struggle to see the punishment to the hotel fits the crime. if he had taken the pictures when she was in her back yard would he have gotten in as much trouble?

The point is the hotel's assumed responsibility is to protect your privacy if you do want to walk around your hotel room naked. Same goes for her.

 

[Ghost]

What would you have awarded her? $100 and a signed copy of Bill O'Reilly's "Killing Lincoln" book?

That sounds about right for me. If her name was Jane Doe from Chittenango, and it was her creepy neighbor Dave that did this she would get about $5,000, and 150,000 Marriott reward points. If it was the Red Roof Inn she would get a towel set, and certificate for the Chinese Buffet.

They're valuing her emotional distress higher because she's a celebrity. I get that they feel pain/emotions more intensely than us, but that much?

The amount of money is absurd.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

It doesn't set that precedent at all. It does affirm that hotels are liable for infringing on their guests' right to privacy, which in Andrews' case the hotel violated. The DA held the perv liable for his crime.

I doubt you would ignore this decision if you were an insurance underwriter (in reality an actuary). Opens a door for many false or manipulated claims in the future.

 

[Delmar]

The media coverage of this trial was atrocious. "Watch her cry on the stand." Lordy, it was like they created another peep hole to look through. Fame is about the worst thing that could happen to anyone.

 

[Czar]

Would anyone have been in shock if it turned out to be a publicity stunt?

For people wondering, this is why the award is so high. Thoughts and attitudes like that have dogged her and will dog her for the rest of her life. It's gotta be pretty miserable to have people at large thinking that there's the possibility you're a slutty attention whore.

 

[Czar]

That sounds about right for me. If her name was Jane Doe from Chittenango, and it was her creepy neighbor Dave that did this she would get about $5,000, and 150,000 Marriott reward points. If it was the Red Roof Inn she would get a towel set, and certificate for the Chinese Buffet.

They're valuing her emotional distress higher because she's a celebrity. I get that they feel pain/emotions more intensely than us, but that much?

The amount of money is absurd.

Because that person likely wouldn't have the financial means Andrews has to pursue this so doggedly. But that's a complete bull that you think some random person wouldn't also get a huge amount in damages.

 

[manleyzoo]

I doubt you would ignore this decision if you were an insurance underwriter (in reality an actuary). Opens a door for many false or manipulated claims in the future.

So you're saying the jury should have taken into consideration the potential fallout to insurance underwriters and not presented a verdict based solely on the facts of the case? And, the jury should have had regard for speculation that their ruling would inspire others to make false claims, particularly inasmuch as Andrews' claim wasn't false? So Andrews, by bringing the case at all, should bear the responsibility for insurance underwriter's surmised future problems. Sure, I get it.

 

[NineOneSeven]

What would you have awarded her? $100 and a signed copy of Bill O'Reilly's "Killing Lincoln" book?

As funny as that is, there's a $54,999,900 difference between 100$ and 55mill

 

[Ghost]

Because that person likely wouldn't have the financial means Andrews has to pursue this so doggedly. But that's a complete bull that you think some random person wouldn't also get a huge amount in damages.

Huh? If the payoff was this high you'd have lawyers lining up to pursue any case like this that doggedly.

 

[Jake]

Jake, you by all accounts are a very reasonable person. The fact that you (and probably millions of other reasonable people like you) think that theres a chance she could have done this on purpose is all the more reason why she deserves every cent of that money.

I guess I didn't explain myself well enough. ESPN should have said or done NOTHING until after the police investigation was over. It would have been the appropriate action to take.

But it doesn't surprise me that someone at ESPN at least thought there was a chance it was staged.

But telling her to do an interview to prove it wasn't staged is crazy.

 

[Czar]

Huh? If the payoff was this high you'd have lawyers lining up to pursue any case like this that doggedly.

What, and be on the hook if they don't win? Yeah, ok.

 

[Ghost]

What, and be on the hook if they don't win? Yeah, ok.

4 serious? Contingency fee?

 

[OrlandoCuse]

So you're saying the jury should have taken into consideration the potential fallout to insurance underwriters and not presented a verdict based solely on the facts of the case? And, the jury should have had regard for speculation that their ruling would inspire others to make false claims, particularly inasmuch as Andrews' claim wasn't false? So Andrews, by bringing the case at all, should bear the responsibility for insurance underwriter's surmised future problems. Sure, I get it.

Facts of the case: a perv got ahold of Erin's room number and installed a camera, catching her naked. He then released the video on the Internet. Big story because she's a celeb.

If it were a normal person it probably never gets noticed and most certainly doesn't have any media coverage. (I'm not condoning it, just stating the reality of the world we live in)

Let's look at this a different way. How many people do you think were murdered in hotel rooms last year? I don't have the number but I'm guessing it's more than a few.

I'm assuming everyone is in agreement that being murdered is far worse than having a naked video taken.

If murder is too much hyperbole, use sexual assault. I'm sure there were thousands of sexual assaults in hotel rooms last year.

Did the murder victims families and the sexual assault victims get $30M+ each? Highly doubtful. Does this verdict set a super high precedent for the future? I would argue yes.