Discovering bed bugs in your hotel can immediately turn any trip into a nightmare. You should never be subjected to staying in a hotel room that is so unsanitary, and you should never have to face bed bug bites when the hotel management should have discovered and stopped the infestation before letting you set foot in the hotel room.
If you or a loved one suffered from bed bugs at a Comfort Suites hotel, contact Whitney, LLP today. Our Comfort Suites bed bug injury lawyers represent the victims of bed bug bites at hotels throughout Maryland, including in Baltimore, Pasadena, Cockeysville, Owings Mills, Temple Hills, Marlow Heights, Middle River, Germantown, Silver Spring, Frederick, Waldorf, Laurel, Glen Burnie, Gaithersburg, Rockville, Ellicott City, Ocean City and Salisbury.
For help filing a lawsuit and seeking compensation for the injuries you and your family faced, contact our law offices today at (410) 583-8000.
Filing a Lawsuit for Bed Bugs at a Comfort Suites Hotel
If you stayed overnight at a Comfort Suites – or any other hotel – and you awoke to discover bed bugs in your room, you could face bites, terrible itching, and potential infection from the infestation. In some cases, you could even end up tracking bed bugs back to your home, facing a new infestation and damage to your property there. If you did experience a situation involving bed bugs in your hotel room, you may be able to sue the hotel for your injuries.
Each state has different laws on point, but hotels typically have a duty to provide you with clean, sanitary conditions in your hotel room. Typically, bed bugs can turn up even in clean rooms – but the presence of bed bugs automatically means that the room is not sanitary enough for a guest to safely stay there. It is nearly impossible for a hotel room to develop a bed bug infestation within one guest’s stay at the hotel, so if your room does have bed bugs it often means that the hotel had plenty of time to discover the infestation before renting you a room and that they should have found it and cleared it before letting you stay there.
Hotels do not typically warn guests of bed bug infestations. Admitting that they had bed bugs would seriously harm their reputation and make guests unlikely to stay in the hotel.
If the hotel failed to clear the hotel room of bed bugs and failed to warn you about potential infestations, then they likely breached duties that they owed you as a paying hotel guest. This means that you would have grounds to take them to court and file a lawsuit for the damages the bed bug infestation caused you. Talk to a lawyer about developing your lawsuit, filing it in the correct jurisdiction, and taking your case to court to fight for compensation.
Damages for Bed Bug Bites at a Hotel
Typically, when you face physical injuries from someone else’s negligence, you can file a lawsuit, claiming any damages related to the injury. This can include the cost of medical care, lost wages from the injury, property damage related to the injury, and mental and emotional damages stemming from the injury. Our lawyers explain these damages and other damages you may be entitled to claim in your hotel bed bug lawsuit.
The economic damages you claim are designed to pay you back for any expenses you paid on account of the accident or injury. In the case of bed bug injuries, you may need to see a doctor to treat the bites, hire a pest control expert for damages in your home, and seek therapy to deal with the stress of the attack. In some cases, you may also need to miss work if you could potentially carry bed bugs into your workplace or your bites are too severe. All of these harms result in economic damages – the costs you pay to correct the mistakes. These damages should be covered in full in a lawsuit.
“Noneconomic” damages are a bit more complex. First, you may sue for direct compensation for the physical pain and discomfort the bites cause you. If you have bites all over your body, you could face constant itchiness and discomfort, which could result in substantial damages for physical pain. You may also face serious mental distress and emotional suffering because of the bites. In some states throughout the U.S., you need to have a physical injury in order to sue for mental and emotional distress, and bug bites should qualify, allowing you to claim damages for the mental and emotional harm as well as the physical harm.
In rare cases, you may also be able to claim additional “punitive damages” to punish the negligent hotel for their errors. Courts have historically awarded punitive damages to bed bug victims in cases where the hotel or motel knew of bed bugs but rented the hotel room anyway. This could be considered “gross negligence” and may result in high damages. Courts have also awarded punitive damages in cases where a single defendant had a history of repeat bed bug issues or multiple instances of bed bug attacks in their hotel. Talk to a lawyer about your ability to claim punitive damages in your case and to discuss what your case might be worth. Never accept a settlement from a hotel without discussing your case with a bed bug lawyer.
If You Were Bitten By Bed Bugs at a Comfort Suites, Our Lawyers Can Help
If you or a loved one stayed at a Comfort Suites hotel that was infested with bed bugs, call Whitney, LLP today to discuss filing a lawsuit for your bed bug injuries. Our Comfort Suites bed bug injury lawyers may be able to file a lawsuit against the hotel chain and get you the compensation you need for injuries, physical pain and discomfort, mental suffering, and other damages from your bed bug bites. For a free legal consultation, call our law offices today at (410) 583-8000.
We represent clients across Maryland including in Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, Baltimore County, Baltimore City, Anne Arundel County, Howard County, Carroll County, Charles County and Worcester County