Several years after two guests stayed in a bedbug-infested room at a hotel in Ventura, California, a jury has awarded the duo $2 million.
According to the Los Angeles Times, on June 6, a jury awarded Alvaro Gutierrez and Ramiro Sanchez $2 million to be paid by The Shores Inn on South Seaward Avenue, steps away from Ventura Beach.
The guests’ stay was February 7, 2020, and they filed their lawsuit in December 2021. The complaint claimed that The Shores Inn’s management was aware of the bedbug issue but kept the hotel open for business, exposing Gutierrez and Sanchez to the infestation and bites. They also stated that previous guests had left reviews on Yelp and Google warning about the hotel’s bedbug problem.
The suit claimed that the men suffered physical, mental, and emotional distress. The jury awarded them in compensatory damages. The Shores Inn is to give $400,000 to Gutierrez and $600,000 to Sanchez in addition to $500,000 each in punitive damages.
What Else Is There To Know About The Ventura Hotel Bedbug Incident?
The lawsuit graphically described the conditions that the plaintiffs endured during their stay. The complaint said the hotel exposed the men “to painful and disgusting bed bug infestations.” It also claimed that “the bed bugs latched onto the plaintiffs while they slept, sucked their blood until they were gorged, and resisted eradication.”
Elsewhere, Gutierrez and Sanchez’s lawsuit asserted that they were “massacre[d] from bedbug bites.” According to USA Today, the men claimed to have sustained “painful bedbug bites, severe skin rash, allergic reaction, scarring, and personal injuries over the entirety of their bodies.” After a night dealing with the infestation, the duo sought medical care.
“The management was not taking good care of the place,” said Brian Virag, Gutierrez and Sanchez’s attorney. “Turns out, they had experience with bedbugs at that hotel dating back a long time.” Notably, Virag is a lawyer who specializes in bedbug injury cases.
Wendy Lascher, an appellate attorney reportedly retained by the hotel’s owners, said that despite the jury’s recent decision, her clients are considering an appeal or other legal options.
“There’s unusual factors that go beyond the initial facts of the case,” the appellate attorney reportedly stated.
