The Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Marina Hotel is suing Southwest Airlines and a flight attendant for flooding they say was caused by the crewmember in her room on a layover last year. While the suit was first filed in January, it was moved to federal court this month.
The hotel says the flight attendant interfered with a fire sprinkler in her room despite a posted warning telling guests not to tamper with the system. The sprinkler discharged, flooding multiple guest rooms as well as the front desk and other common areas. They were forced to cancel reservations, and bring in outside cleanup and restoration crews. They claim losses of $215,576.
Flight attendants are going to be pretty judgment proof, which is why here’s insurance. Most hotel guests won’t be able to pay $200,000 for damages.
What’s interesting is suing Southwest Airlines. Generally I wouldn’t expect an employer to be vicariously liable when their employee causes damage to a hotel room on their stay. But Southwest actually books the room. Layover lodging is part of the job itself.
Of course, the flight attendant wouldn’t have been performing their job by tampering with a sprinkler. That’s not serving their employer, or something done in the ordinary course of business travel.
And Southwest wasn’t put on notice about this particular employee being unfit or having a propensity to do this, so negligent supervision which is claimed in the suit will be hard to show.
The suit also simultaneously argues Southwest is liable because her stay was within the scope of her employment, while they’re claiming she was acting outside of her employment and Southwest was negligent in allowing this.
Guests make blunders with sprinklers all the time. That’s why many have stickers by the sprinklres not to do this.
- A high school senior staying at the Holiday Inn Dumfries the night before a JROTC drill competition “wanted to make sure his uniform looked perfect.”
They hung the uniform from the sprinkler head in their room and properly affixed all their ribbons and medals. He was surprised that when he took his jacket down “the sprinkler activated — resulting in more than $690,000 in damage.”
- A wedding planner made this same mistake with a dress.
- And when a guest did this at the Sheraton Sydney, an entire floor was flooded. He also attacked hotel staff and threw things out the window.
The flight attendant here seems to be in a tough spot. There’s not any photo, video, or witness evidence showing her tampering – just a sprinkler expert. That’s probably the best thing about their position. But the case against her is probably better than against Southwest. Southwest has the deeper pockets.
Speaking of deep pockets, wouldn’t the hotel have insurance coverage for this kind of accidental damage? Or not, better to just sue everyone; at least the lawyers get paid…
Well, I cannot find a complaint on the hyperlinked docket sheet. But I have to wonder whether any contract by which the hotel provides lodging to Southwest for its employees provides that Southwest is responsible for damage employees inflict on the property. If so, the liability would arise out of contract, not tort.
@1990, perhaps there is insurance. If there is, the policy would likely provide the carrier subrogation rights by which the carrier can step into the insured’s shoes and pursue the current claim against Southwest.
A good friend used to be the Director of Sales at a nearby hotel and they kicked out Southwest a few years ago because of increased damage to the hotel. She wouldn’t tell me exactly what, but apparently it came down from the Hotel Director to not extend their contract. Typically hotels LOVE airline crews because they’re mostly low maintenance, rarely use the free breakfast, don’t take up a parking spot, and mostly just go to the room, sleep, and get up on in the morning and go.