My wife and I took a vacation and stayed at a hotel outside of Boston. While we were sitting by the pool having a drink that night, a group of young people were having sort of a loud party at a table nearby. The manager came over and asked them to be quiet and it worked for a while but then the noise started up again. At one point one of the kids saw me looking at him and apparently took offense at my expression. He came over and started asking me if I "had a problem" and whether I had something to say to him. All of these guys were drunk. That was clear to me and, I would guess, to the manager. So I just kept my mouth shut. But the kid finally got so close to me and my wife that I put my hands out to keep him away. He then punched me in the nose, breaking it. Then the other guys pulled him away and the whole group left the area. I know I can sue this kid (assuming I can find out who he was from the hotel records) but I was wondering if I can sue the hotel for allowing these kids to run wild in the pool area? They were drunk and the manager knew it.
Submitted by KevAnn on Thu, 06/09/2011 - 08:15
Suing hotel or motel for injuries
The hotel clearly has a duty to provide a safe environment and adequate security for its guests. So, yes, you can sue the hotel and may prevail if you can show that it breached that duty. The question is whether the damages you suffered are significant enough to warrant the cost, in both money and time, to bring a law suit. As you may know from reading our other posts, in Massachusetts punitive damages are usually only awarded when authorized by statute. I do not know of any authorizing statute that would allow punitive damages in the situation you describe. However, you should certainly discuss the matter with a MA personal injury lawyer. Good luck