Let’s start with the weird news…
Woman Drives Around With 15 Foot Tree Stuck in Her Car’s Grille Like It’s NBD
If this story proves anything at all, it is that when you’re driving drunk you’re capable of some pretty seriously stupid things. Check out these pictures of the stop and be amazed at the size of the tree (not just 15 feet tall, but also quite wide!)…
and,,,
Here’s the video of her actually being stopped…
Wow.
Alright, getting serious now:
Erin Andrews Awarded $55 Million in Peeping Tom Lawsuit
For those who don’t know who Erin Andrews is, she was (at that time) an ESPN reporter who, while in a Marriott Hotel in Nashville, was stalked by a man named Michael Barrett who eventually filmed her nude while in her room. Mr. Barrett allegedly got Ms. Andrews’ room number from the Hotel (I don’t know the details of how this was accomplished) then rented the room beside hers. When Ms. Andrews was out of the room, Mr. Barrett altered her room’s peephole so that when she was in the room he could put his phone’s camera on it and film her while she thought she was alone and in the privacy of her room.
This voyeur film was subsequently posted on the internet and is still out there for anyone to see. Mr. Barrett was eventually arrested and served 30 months in jail for stalking.
Ms. Andrews pursued a civil lawsuit against both Mr. Barrett and the Marriott Hotel for $75 million and, as the article above notes, the jury awarded her $55 million. The judgment was that her stalker was 51% culpable in the filming while the Hotel was 49% culpable. Thus, Mr. Barrett owes Ms. Andrews $28 million while the Marriott Hotel owes her $26 million.
And I couldn’t disagree with at least part of the judgment more.
Now, before you start sending death threats and curses my way, let me state the following:
What was done to Ms. Andrews was unforgivable and her stalker is a lowlife scum. Frankly, he should have served much more time in jail than he did and I totally agree with the monetary judgment in the civil suit rendered against him. Had this happened to my daughter, I might well be the one in jail…for killing the bastard for what he did.
Having said all that, I don’t get why the Marriott Hotel was found culpable in this civil suit…at least to the degree it was.
Please understand, I’m not defending the Hotel for what it did during the trial. Frankly, I think the Hotel’s defense attorney did the Hotel no favors when it implied Ms. Andrews’ career was boosted by this invasion of her privacy. Worse still was the news that the Hotel owner was caught with a group of friends watching the Erin Andrews footage while eating out. Jeeze Louize…how stupid -and creepy- can you be?!
Further, I would grant you that someone at the Hotel exercised poor judgment in telling Ms. Andrews’ stalker her room number (if indeed this happened…I read somewhere that Mr. Barrett used a clever deception involving caller ID to get that information but I could be wrong). I’m also unclear as to how Mr. Barrett wound up getting the room next to Ms. Andrews. If he simply walked up to the reception and asked for room X when he checked in and they gave the room to him, how was the Hotel to know he wanted this room for the purpose of spying on her?
So I return to my original point: Why was the Marriott Hotel found so culpable in an act committed by someone else?
Let’s assume the worst: The clerk at the Hotel was stupid enough to tell a complete stranger which room Ms. Andrews was in. Not only is doing this stupid, it is also dangerous. Imagine if Mr. Barrett was mentally deranged and sexually attacked and/or killed Ms. Andrews!
As grim as that thought is, telling someone who is staying in a room is stupid and potentially dangerous BUT it is not against the law.
Further, let’s assume this theoretical Hotel Clerk was, after telling this man Ms. Andrews’ room number, even stupider still and was asked if the room beside Ms. Andrews was available and our stupid, stupid clerk rented it to the stalker.
Again, we’re talking some really stupid actions but again, they are nothing more than that. There is no reason our stupid clerk would think Mr. Barrett is some kind of deranged stalker. There is no reason to believe s/he knew what Mr. Barrett was up to. Indeed, I can’t recall reading any story like this, where a stalker figures out the room of a celebrity and subsequently films them through the peephole, happening before.
So how was the Marriott Hotel -the enterprise versus the clerk(s) who gave Mr. Barrett this information- to know this was the stalker’s intention? And, truly, are they then 49% liable for his actions? Mr. Barrett has no affiliation with the Hotel and they most certainly stood to gain absolutely nothing -and now have lost $26 million- from what HE did.
To repeat: The actions of Mr. Barrett were not only criminal, but they were also disgusting, invasive, and he absolutely should be made to pay for them. I feel for Ms. Andrews and hate what she went through.
But I just can’t see the Hotel being culpable -at least to that degree- for the actions of this sick, pathetic individual.