Hotel Assault Lawsuit
No one would willingly leave the comfort of their home to stay at a hotel where they feel unsafe. Hotel guests expect their rooms and the overall premises to be safe when arriving. They expect doors to lock properly, staff to remain friendly, and security to watch over the building. What’s more, hotels have a legal duty to ensure their guests are safe, so when an assault or rape occurs on hotel property, the victim can hold the establishment responsible.
Whether you suffered physical violence or sexual violence, you may have bodily injuries and emotional trauma. You don’t deserve to go through this, and you don’t have to go through it alone. Contact the Law Offices of Wolf & Pravato at (954) 633-8270 for strong, compassionate legal help. You can learn more about how our Fort hotel accident lawyer can help you during a free consultation. All your details will be held in the strictest confidence.
How You Can Pursue Justice With a Hotel Sexual Assault Lawsuit
Taking legal action in a civil suit allows you to hold the hotel and/or the perpetrator responsible. While the perpetrator should face criminal charges for sexual assault, holding the establishment responsible allows you to hold other liable parties accountable as you seek justice for the physical and emotional harm you experienced.
Financial Compensation to Help Restore Your Life After a Hotel Sexual Assault
You can file a hotel rape lawsuit against the perpetrator and the hotel to obtain the justice you deserve. Florida law entitles you to recover damages for injuries others have inflicted on you. Those responsible for harming you must pay economic expenses and the pain and suffering you endure because of their negligent or intentional behavior. Financial compensation provides a path to put your life back together.
Your Assault-Related Expenses Are Recoverable
After a sexual assault at a hotel, you might have experienced bodily injury requiring immediate medical attention. Your medical bills are recoverable, along with other financial expenses from the assault. This can also include any therapy you underwent or are still receiving to cope with the traumatic events.
A Florida personal injury lawyer on our team could help you recover economic damages that include:
- Medical treatment costs
- Prescription medication
- Lost income due to missing work
- Counseling or other mental health services
- Property loss or damage from the attack
- The cost of your hotel stay and travel
- Any other costs related to or resulting from the assault
You Can Recover Compensation for Emotional Trauma
The wounds of a sexual assault go beyond the physical trauma, and the costs to victims are much more than the price of a medical bill. A hotel rape violates your rights and strips you of your certainty, your feeling of safety, your confidence, and your joy, among other things. As a result, you may feel constant fear or worry in situations where no threat exists.
Sexual assault survivors often feel shame and guilt, as a study published in the McGill Journal of Medicine documents. Your emotional distress may continue for weeks, months, or even years. The law empowers you to collect compensation for your psychological and emotional injuries and other types of pain and suffering.
One of our Fort Lauderdale hotel accident lawyers can help you recover damages for pain and suffering, such as:wrongful death cases
- Physical pain and suffering (i.e., your bodily injuries)
- Unwanted pregnancy
- Reduced quality of life
- Loss of enjoyment of activities
- Fear/paranoia
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Insomnia
- Lost appetite
- Grief or sadness
- Post-traumatic stress disorder or other mental health conditions
- Other emotional distress
It is not your fault, but you can make sure the right party bears the blame for what you’ve been through. Our dedicated team of hotel accident lawyers can help.
Compassionate and Discreet Legal Service for Hotel Assault Victims
Our hotel rape and sexual assault lawyers are here to support you during this difficult and harrowing time. Because we’ve helped clients with similar cases, we understand how challenging it is to relive the trauma of sexual assault.
Our clients trust us to lend an attentive ear and treat them with care and compassion. We are sensitive to the traumatic experience you’ve been through and never share the information you provide us. As your legal representation, all our conversations remain confidential.
Honest Information to Help You Make the Right Choices for Your Hotel Assault Case
The hotel sexual assault attorney handling your case will always be honest with you. While we remain sensitive to what you’ve experienced, we know that the only way we can truly help is by telling you the truth. We devote ourselves to ensuring you understand your case’s merits, your rights in Florida, and your legal options.
Assault cases often challenge survivors in ways they don’t expect, but our personal injury lawyers stand with you. Throughout your case, we will prepare you for what’s next so that you feel as comfortable as possible moving forward. Our goal is to put you in the position to make the most informed choices about your hotel sexual assault lawsuit.
Responsive Communication for Our Hotel Rape and Sexual Assault Clients
We prioritize communication, so you can always expect your Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyer to pick up the phone or promptly reply to an email. Lack of communication erodes trust. That doesn’t work for us. We want you to put your confidence in our ability to get the job done. That’s why we work hard to update you on your case’s status and respond to your questions or concerns.
Start a Hotel Sexual Assault Lawsuit With Wolf & Pravato at No Cost
For hotel assault survivors, there are no upfront or out-of-pocket costs for legal help. We work on a contingency fee basis, meaning we don’t charge you unless we win your case. The full weight of our legal team, financial resources, and network is behind you from the start without any financial risk to you. If we don’t win, you won’t pay us anything. Feel free to reach out to us with any questions you have about our fee structure.
Who Is Legally Responsible for an Assault or Sexual Assault at a Hotel?
Liability for a hotel assault depends on the case’s circumstances. First, understand that the assailant is always liable for any intentional harm they inflicted upon you. Sexual assault, rape, or any other physical violence is a crime punishable by imprisonment or death in some cases. That said, you can file a hotel rape lawsuit against the perpetrator in addition to any criminal consequences he faces.
You may also file a hotel sexual assault suit against the hotel owner if the hotel failed to exercise reasonable care to keep you safe or prevent your harm. This concept is known as negligence. While negligence in and of itself is not a crime, if it leads to your harm, the liable party must pay for damages.
Premises Liabilities in Hotels
Hotels and other public lodging establishments have a legal duty to keep their premises reasonably safe and defect-free. If conditions on the hotel property had a role in the perpetrator assaulting you, the hotel is liable for your injuries. This is the case only if the hotel knew or should have known about the problems that led to your injury, per Florida Statutes § 768.0755.
The hotel is liable if the hotel did not hire security or failed to ensure the security walked the grounds.
Examples of premise liability issues include:
- Faulty or broken doors, door locks, or keys
- Inadequate building security
- Poorly lit areas, such as hallways and parking lots
- Broken or unlocked gates
- Broken communications systems such as room phones or elevator call features
- Broken elevators
- Locked emergency exits
- Criminal activity on the hotel property (prostitution, drug use, or drug dealing)
Hotel Negligence
Perhaps the cause of the assault was not dangerous conditions on the property but negligent hiring or supervision of employees. The hotel must properly vet each employee before hiring. If an employee harmed you, the hotel may be at-fault. For example, if the employee had a criminal past that made him a danger to others such as a previous domestic violence offense or drug offense history the hotel should have known about it.
Vicarious Liability
Businesses are accountable for their employees’ actions on the job, so even if the hotel was not negligent, the establishment may still bear liability. If a hotel staff member used his position to enter your room and subsequently assaulted you, you may be able to sue the hotel under vicarious liability laws.
Call Us Today for Help with a Hotel Assault Lawsuit Case
The team at the Law Offices of Wolf & Pravato can help you file a hotel assault lawsuit against an employee directly or against the hotel through vicarious liability or direct negligence. You can seek justice and receive compensation for your injuries through a hotel assault lawsuit. You could also recover financial costs from the incident, such as the cost of your medical treatment and missed income due to the time you missed from work. Call us today at (954) 633-8270 for a free consultation.
FAQs for Hotel Sexual Assault
What to Do if You are a Victim of Rape in a Hotel?
If you are a victim of rape in a hotel, you should follow the steps below:
- Immediately report the rape to law enforcement. Dial 9-1-1 from the nearest phone or alert a trusted person, such as a family, friend, or staff member, to request they call for you. Give as much detail as possible about the events. Police should investigate and take photos of the scene.
- Request transportation to the nearest hospital to receive an emergency room physical examination. The doctors will treat and document your injuries and test for sexually transmitted diseases.
- If time has passed, you should still inform the police to make a police report and document the incident. Be sure you seek medical attention as force injuries or sexually transmitted diseases may still be present.
- Contact a lawyer to hold the predator and the hotel responsible.
How Long Can You Wait to Press Charges for Hotel Assault?
Sexual assault or rape is legally called “sexual battery.” It is a felony crime in most states, including Florida. The time you have to press charges for a hotel assault depends on the statute of limitations for prosecuting the applicable felony offense.
Per Florida Statutes § 775.15, for sexual assault that occurs when a victim is under 12 years old, there is no time limit. For people sexually assaulted at age 12 or older, the state provides you the following amount of time to press charges:
- Four years for first-degree felony
- Three years for second- or third-degree felony
What Actions Are Included in Sexual Assault in a Hotel?
Sexual assault can include numerous actions, such as:
- Kissing
- Fondling, groping, or unwanted sexual touching of the genitals, breast, or anywhere else
- Attempted rape
- Forcing the victim to perform sexual acts, such as oral sex or penetrating the perpetrator’s body
- Sexual penetration of the victim
- Performing oral sex on the victim
- Forcing the victim to perform sexual acts on themselves
- Forcing another person to sexually touch or penetrate the victim
What Is the Most Common Defense to Charges of Rape in a Hotel?
Alleged perpetrators often raise the defense that they were not the assailant who harmed the victim. Another common defense to rape is that the victims consented to sexual relations. Since the definition of consent is often debatable, this defense may be successful even when the victim declares that sex was non-consensual.
How Can I File a Lawsuit Against a Hotel Employee for Sexual Assault?
Filing a lawsuit against a hotel employee or anyone else begins with contacting a hotel sexual assault attorney. A lawyer at the Law Offices of Wolf & Pravato can assist you in investigating the assault, gathering evidence of the incident, identifying any dangerous conditions with hotel security or hotel negligence that led to your assault, and fighting for the compensation and justice you deserve.
