Stamford Marriott claims woman’s own negligence led to her rape.
STAMFORD — A downtown hotel being sued by a woman raped at gunpoint in its parking garage is claiming she was careless, negligent and “failed to exercise due care for her own safety and the safety of her children and proper use of her senses and facilities,” according to court documents.
The victim’s attorneys also argue the hotel has inadvertently identified her to acquaintances by asking them to testify.
The Stamford Marriott Hotel & Spa, along with the firms in charge of managing the hotel and its parking garage, made the claim as part of a list of special defenses filed in state Superior Court in Stamford last month. Such defenses allow defendants in civil suits to argue they are not responsible for damages even if the plaintiff’s story is true.
The special defenses, and the plaintiff’s argument against them, are a few of the documents filed in a series of arguments and counterarguments as the case heads for trial, scheduled for April.
The woman filed the lawsuit in May 2008, six months after Danbury native Gary Fricker, 56, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after a plea deal in the case.
On Oct. 10, 2006, Fricker stuck a handgun in the back of the then 40-year-old woman and forced her and her children, then 3 and 5, into their minivan as they left the hotel, according to court documents.
She let him go through her wallet and told him he could take it, but Fricker demanded she take off her clothes.
Now I understand the rules of pleading, and I understand that negligence on the part of the plaintiff is a special defense that must be specifically pled if it is to be used at trial, but sometimes, just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you should. What kind of moron executive at Marriott, faced with the rape of a guest at gunpoint in the presence of her children thinks, “yeah, we’ll expose her identity and blame her! Maybe she was wearing a tight skirt, ya think?” I’m sure I don’t have the experience Marriott’s attorneys do but I’ve faced a number of juries and I can’t think of anything more certain to inflame them and generate sympathy for the plaintiff than to try this defense. I hope they don’t settle and I hope the jury makes an award that punishes Marriott for even attempting to employ this tactic. Stupid.
Ahh, the true colors of the hospitality/travel industry….
Need to manage own physical risks in choice of hotel, valet parking vs garages, choice of cab/limo (avoiding the inevitable inept, unsafe driver in a dumpy car), caliber of plane/airline/pilots, etc etc….minimizing one’s risks takes some money and common sense risk judgment
Money will never compensate for or cure irreversible physical harm/disabilities/infectious diseases anyway
Alright, Cos Cobber, I know you’re parodying Anonymous!
Excellent evidence that morons can reside in the public OR private sector!
if Marriott management persists in this legal tactic, we will viral market them to a single digit occupancy rate.
tell everyone. tell family. tell friends. tell visiting business guests. tell them all to avoid the place. suggest the westin. suggest the delamar. suggest the motel 6. post it on bulletin boards and chatrooms.
Avoid the Stamford Marriott, and its evil management.
Nope, its not me… Besides, you can’t create these quotes on your own.
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In my experience it was probably part of the “boiler plate” list of defenses:
latches
estoppel
failure to mitigatge
unclean hands
failure to state a claim
etc
I have seen answers with 27 affirmative defenses all listing the same BS.