How Google reviews helped US couple to win $2 million 'bed bug lawsuit' against hotel
Representative Image
A California couple has won a $2 million award in a "
bed bug lawsuit
" against
The Shores Inn
in Ventura, California. The couple was able to win this lawsuit after Google and
Yelp reviews
helped to establish the hotel's prior knowledge of the infestation. Alvaro Gutierrez and Ramiro Sanchez filed the lawsuit following a February 2020 stay at the hotel, which they claimed left them with "painful bed bug bites, severe skin rash, allergic reaction, scarring and personal injuries over the entirety of their bodies," according to the complaint obtained by USA Today.
The lawsuit, filed in December 2021 by lawyer Brian J. Virag, alleged that after discovering the bedbug infestation in their initial room, the couple was moved to another, where they "continued to be massacred from bed bugs (sic) bites." Moreover, the complaint also alleged, based on Google and Yelp reviews left by previous guests, that the hotel management had been informed of the same bed bug issue before their stay.
How the visit to the California hotel affected the couple
Gutierrez and Sanchez sought medical treatment following their stay at the hotel, the lawsuit claims, as bed bugs "latched onto the plaintiffs while they slept, sucked their blood until they were gorged, and resisted eradication."
According to the complaint, the two suffered pain, illness, and emotional and mental distress due to the incident. As a result, they checked out of the hotel after just one night, despite having booked a week-long stay, the lawsuit states.
Last month, jurors awarded Gutierrez $400,000 for pain, disfigurement, grief, and emotional distress, while Sanchez received $600,000 for similar complaints. Additionally, both men were awarded $500,000 each in
punitive damages
.
The hotel plans to appeal or otherwise contest the ruling, appellant lawyer Wendy Lascher told the Los Angeles Times.
Following the verdict, a note was discovered in one juror's notebook suggesting that two jurors may have visited the inn during the trial, and another juror reportedly remarked to others during the proceedings that the hotel was 'an eyesore and should be torn down," LA Times reported.
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