Andrews Case Likely Will Lead to Updated Hotel Security
by Jessica Montevago /Photo courtesy: David Shankbone
The publicity surrounding the Erin Andrews case is likely to have a ripple effect on the industry, as guests worry about their privacy and legal experts predict that major hoteliers will update and tighten their security policies.
The hotel industry is going to have to collectively face the repercussions of the lawsuit, in which a jury awarded the sportscaster $55 million on Monday.
"We were sending a message out to the hotels and the chains to do better than what they've done," juror Noble Taylor, a sergeant for the Nashville Police Department, told the press.
Andrews was taped undressing through a peephole in her room at the Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt. She accused the hotel owner, West End Hotel Partners LLC, and former operator, Windsor Capital Group, Inc., of violating her privacy for giving out her room number to a stalker.
Michael David Barrett admitted to shooting the videos and posting them on the internet; he was later sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
Marriott International issued a statement distancing itself from the case, highlighting that the Nashville Marriott “is a franchised hotel, meaning that Marriott neither owns it nor operates it. It is operated independently.” The court agreed, deciding that Marriott had no liability.