Here is the infuriating story of a woman who was visiting a Connecticut hotel: woman was raped in front of her children and was told by the hotel that she was careless. This is an open talk thread where you can discuss this story or talk about anything you like.
I’m mad a hell just reading this story. The woman was raped at gunpoint in front of her own children while staying at the Stamford Mariott Hotel in Connecticut. The rapists name is Gary Fricker who is currently serving a 20 year sentence in prison. The assault occurred in a hotel parking lot, when she was in a minivan with her two young children. Read about it here and here and here.
She subsequently sued the hotel for negligence, claiming that the Connecticut hotel did not use reasonable security precautions and did not patrol and monitor the parking lot adequately. Clearly one can argue if a hotel should really be held liable for crime on their premises. Must all misfortune and bad luck be paid for by someone else?
I think not, but I think less of the Stamford Mariott, Connecticut hotel’s defense. They are responding to her lawsuit by claiming that she was careless and negligent. My goodness. According to the Marriott she “failed to exercise due care for her own safety and the safety of her children and proper use of her senses and facilities.” They also expressed “sympathy” and “regret” for her predicament.
Curious as to reader thoughts. At what point should a defense team simply surrender for fear of the commercial consequences of their defense? And how much liability should a business really have for bad things that happen on their vast premises?
The Connecticut hotel woman versus the Marriott hotel gives us something to think about for a Sunday. Where do you come down?
Photo: Sam’s Hearing Life
August 16th, 2009 at 5:36 am
The audesity, to blame this poor lady, when you(Marriott), claim to have had lighted walkways and superb security(which is what you advertise, on this very commercial connected to this story).
You are just as responsible as the perpetrator and I pray that this poor lady remembers to file for crime victims compensation!
You are responsible for any ill activity that take place on your property!
PS: Lady, my prayers are with you and your family! You DID act responsible, when you entered a place of business, to show you and your children, a good vacation time! Don’t EVER, allow this company or anyone else, put a guilt trip on you, for THEIR, incompancy! You DID use resonable care, at securing the safety of your family! The rest, was up to MARRIOT! That’s what they have insurance for, for the employees that work for them and with that, it was security’s job, to be ON THEIR JOB, and they weren’t!
August 16th, 2009 at 5:38 am
If I lose a $100 bill while staying at a hotel that is misfortune. Or if I lock my keys in my car that is bad luck. This was a crime committed with a weapon. The hotel should be responisble. It is not that difficult to secure a parking garage and failure to do so should a libility for the hotel. If the hotel doesn’t want to secure thier premises they should not be inviting people to stay at their hotel for profit.
August 16th, 2009 at 5:40 am
Don’t lawyers sometimes make ridiculous claims, just routine as part of their strategy in a case?
Also there is the deer-in-the-headlights factor. An act of crime is sort of an other-worldly phenomenon. It can be difficult for one who is not the victim to wrap their mind around it. Lawyers know this, and they use it. This is what “blame the victim” is all about, in my opinion. It’s all psychology.
I looked this up and read about it and it sounds pretty egregious to me. Sounds like the hotel’s lawyers are trying anything they can. I cannot condemn them for this. They are just being what they are: scum of the Earth. How can you fault someone for just being what they are?
August 16th, 2009 at 5:48 am
This could have happened in her own driveway. Who would she sue then? She could have gone to the front desk and ask for someone to escort her from the parking garage ….I’ve done it before in Atlanta at a Hampton on Piedmont Road. It didn’t look safe to me so I asked for help. She’s looking to make a buck off her misfortune…..fine, go write a book about it, speak about it, in other words, work for it like most Americans.
August 16th, 2009 at 5:51 am
i don’t think the hotel is responsible for the rape itself. i do believe they should have had cameras, guards, and more security measures. i wouldn’t want to go somewhere i don’t feel safe. predators are known for hanging out in garages and parking lots. take ted bundy for instance. he kidnapped several of his victims very close to his car by leading them to the parking lot. hotels should take the extra effort to make their guests feel safe. i know marriot is sooooo off my list of places to stay. the rapist should be sent out to space with no protection suit with the rest of the trash and the hotel representative who made that statement should never be allowed to make public statements again and he should be sued for idiocy.
August 16th, 2009 at 5:54 am
I live nearby and have parked in that garage many times. I keep my eyes open and my wits about me. It could be better lit. I’ve never felt totally safe there unless I’ve been on the ground floor near the hotel entrance.
Many hotels are now adding an extra parking charge on top of the room rate. It’s called “shrouding” and it’s an outrage, but if she paid that extra charge, she should expect greater security in return.
All-in-all, probably plenty we don’t know about the situation, but as usual, too many people suing each other; too much focus on any party other than the criminal.
August 16th, 2009 at 5:58 am
‘The hotel’s court filing said the woman “failed to exercise due care for her own safety and the safety of her children and proper use of her senses and facilities.”‘
How do they know what she is supposed to have done or not done, when they apparently had no idea that the rapist was loitering around? If the hotel is going to offer a service (and you can bet that the cost was included in the room rate), then they should insure it is safe.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:03 am
No woman, regardless of how she is dressed deserves to be raped. The hotel should not be responsible for the safety of everyone who happens to come onto their property. The woman is responsible for her own safety and the safety of her children. Should you be sued if she drove into your driveway to turn around and was raped before she left? We are all responsible for ourselves, this is a dangerous world. She was not a guest at the hotel, but the hotel didn’t sue her for trespassing, maybe they should have counter sued rather than saying she was careless. She was careless, not every woman that comes onto the hotel property is raped.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:04 am
Any hotel, just as any business, has a reasonable obligation to ensure the safety of customers on its premises. It sounds as if they are liable for some negligence.
But that’s not really the point we discuss here. The words used to describe the woman who was raped are the topic. On the surface it feels like an outrage. The lawyers have a job to do in trying to win the case and save their client, the hotel, money. So they are usuing the same language they’d have used if the lady slipped on a banana peel. That doesn’t make it okay, but I understand the situation. I think the hotel and its lawyers could have handled this better both before and after the fact. They didn’t and I think they have earned the bad publicity.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:05 am
she wants money, plain and simple. if she got raped in the church parking lot, it’s their fault, grocery store, it would be their fault, etc. since gary fricken don’t have any money, go after the hotel.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:08 am
Did the hotel provide adequate surveillance, security and deterrence? Did they create an atmosphere where the rapist saw this place as a prime target to score a victim? That is the question in this lawsuit. The hotel is responsible for the safety of it’s guests while they are on the premises. All it would take is to hire one or two people at $8 an hour to patrol the grounds. Many places do this. I would be inclined to side with the victim. That the hotel would blame the victim and say SHE was careless, and shoulder no blame for their own carelessness in not providing adequate security, is dispicable. At least one employee noticed the rapist, the day prior to the rape, loitering in the parking garage where the rape later occurred but did not question him nor report his presence.
And to the dumb-#*&, Bill, who said she was ‘not a guest’ where did you get that bit of information? It was not in any of the articles that I read. The man was convicted and sentenced for the rape that occurred. It occurred in the parking garage of the hotel. You sounds like a piece of s*it rapist yourself and that you are trying to justify your own perverted views of how women should be viewed and treated. I hope some day you are ass raped so we can say “why the big fuss it was not like he was forced to do something that he had not done before…”.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:13 am
Did anyone actually read the previous articles on the case before commenting? The man in prison for raping this woman at gunpoint had been seen by hotel security guards loitering and acting suspiciously in the parking garage for several days prior to the attack but they had done nothing about him. The rapist pulled a gun on the woman. She thought he wanted to rob her and told him to take her wallet. Instead, he raped the woman at gunpoint and threatened to rape at least one of her children if she didn’t comply. Thankfully another vehicle pulled up and the woman screamed to get their attention. While everyone should know that their safety is their responsibility it is possible the Marriott did in fact have a duty to keep their paying guests safe and that by not keeping tabs on the man loitering in their garage that they are partially responsible. The other part of this is that the Marriott also identified the victim to her friends, family and members of the community when she previously had only been identified as Jane Doe. Many of these people did not know she was the victim but they do now. That is harrassment and intimidation. It is a terrible situation for all involved. The children who witnessed this are the ones who will suffer the most and now that they have been publicly identified, it will probably be even worse for them. Whether the Marriott was at fault at all will never be the issue anymore. Their lawyers stated that the woman was at least partially at fault opening the door once again to the fact that people always assume the woman was to blame because of what she was wearing, etc. Rape isn’t a sexual crime and she could have been wearing a potato sack and it wouldn’t have made a difference. Rape is a crime of power. The rapist is generally angry and wants to feel in control. The way they do that is by sexually assaulting a less physically strong person. Thanks Marriott lawyers for setting women’s rights back a few thousand years for the sake of saving a few bucks. Anyone remember McDonald’s being sued because an elderly woman asked them to pay her out of pocket medical costs for the burns she received when hot coffee was spilled in her lap at the drive through? She had insurance, she just asked for around $800 to cover her out of pocket costs. They said no. She sued. The jury found that McDonald’s had been cited MULTIPLE times for keeping their coffee too hot. The woman was awarded milions. Maybe if everyone started doing the right thing to begin with we could eliminate a lot of these lawsuits. Just a thought.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:14 am
Rediculous comment by the hotel. I would think if a normal person was coming off an elavator in a kinda expensive hotel not some dive motel that they would think they could walk to their car in safety. Not come to their car with mace or gun drawn expecting an asault might occur.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:17 am
If a rapest has it in mind to rape a victem he will find a way to do it ( the basterd got what he deserved 20 yrs. ) not totaly the hotels fault better loghting and or security may have helped but the man had a gun he might have shot someone trying to help the victem.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:17 am
I think it was possible for the hotel’s lawyers to argue that they were not negligent without crossing over to making the victim responsible. All they have to do in a lawsuit if prove that they are not liable.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:25 am
The main thing I wish to say is that rape is a crime of power and control, and has nothing to do with passion. Instead of a knife, the man uses a part of himself. However, the results are the same. The man who rapes is not only a coward, he is a person who is totally lacking in real manhood. I don’t care if the woman was sitting in her van naked with her doors open, nothing on earth gives another human the right to do what this man did. He obviously has no concience. Not only did he rape the woman, but he also raped the minds of those children, forever placing and image in their little minds that no child should have to go through life with. I too agree that there should be a death penalty for rape. As far as the hotel’s defense, it is sickening at best. When you are operating a hotel, you are saying to the public that this is a safe place to spend the night. This is a place in which every attempt has been made to insure your safety. Only a jury can decide, after hearing all the facts, if the hotel had taken all appropriate measures to insure customer safety. If they did, then I could not rule in the woman’s favor; however, if they were negligent in this area, then I agree they owe the woman some type of compensation. I do think the hotel is totally wrong to attempt to place blame for the rape on the woman. When the hotel put up their sign, they are inviting the public to stay there. We all have the right to assume that a hotel has considered and implemented the best security possible for their guest. The rapist is the lowest form of man, actually subhuman. No rapist should ever be allowed to walk free again. That is where the major problem lies. Our laws are inadequate when it comes to this crime.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:27 am
I think the Hotel is using the womens logic and throwing it right back at her.
The word ” reasonable” will be put on trial here. Do the police share in any of the responsibility ? How about the criminals teachers in school? It’s the old argument that ” society” is to blame for crimes. This women is part of society.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:29 am
Don’t hotel and large corporate businesses like this hotel have surveillance and security people? If they don’t that is a major problem, and perhaps this poor woman and her children could have been spared of this grotesque trauma. I think that major businesses,esp hotels and resorts should have people patrolling their premises, to protect their “valued customers”. Obviously, this hotel has neither or a scum sucking maggot like this rapist would have known not to commit a crime there. Situations happen like this all the time in hotels, resorts, on cruise ships… I think the hotel is at fault in this.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:29 am
You Idiots!!! The Hotel said nothing!!! They are defending themselves in a legal issue which is pending . Someone sues you and you wont fight back as hard as you can?? It hasn’t been settled yet! The press eats this s*it up. They have guys looking at litigation and mines it looking for something that shocks its reader so they keep watching, reading, searching etc. Look at stories with a cocked eyebrow, because it’s usually just one guy fishing, looking for fish(you)!
August 16th, 2009 at 6:30 am
I think it was the hotel’s fault. If they couldn’t take proper security measures in a parking lot then they deserve to get sued. But then you won’t even pay her back and say it is her fault? Being raped can be a very hard thing to overcome and they say it is her fault. It is even worse it was in front of her children, now they probably had a traumatic experience as well.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:34 am
Why are homeowners liable for accidents/crimes ocurred on their property and the hotel is not? Accidents/crime is more likely to happen at a hotel so why are they not liable? They failed to keep guests on their property safe because they do not want to have to pay for security? And then they have the gall to blame the victim for their negligence and bad management. I hope she gets an outstanding settlement.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:34 am
It was certainly a poor choice of words on the part of counsel for the Marriott Hotel’s. One can only speculate as to their reasoning (or lack of) in releasing such a statement. Clearly, it (the statement) should have been reviewed at the highest levels for both the law firm and the hotels administration. That being said, unless a case can be made for lack of due diligence on the part of the hotel, then the victim has no case. Certainly, it was an unspeakable assult that the victim was subjected to and the man responsible will be in prison for a long time. Somehow, I think justice would be served if he were to be subjected to the same type of crime while he is an prison. The victim can certainly sue her attacker in civil court and would win. However, unless he has substantial holdings, the victim merely walks away with a paper victory. That the crime took place on private property, implies that there is some level of responsibility for the owners of that property, but there are limits to that responsibility and adequate laws and case history point to that outcome. The casual observer might say “well, she can’t get anything from her attacker, so, she is going for the deep pockets”. Argueably, there is an element of truth to that statement. Personally, I think this issue will reach a settlement. My best wishes to the victim in this case and hope for her speedy recovery from that tragic event.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:36 am
I SUPPORT THE HOTEL!
Certainly it was a horrible thing that happenend. The wording of “carelessness” doesn’t sound right at all, but still, THE HOTEL IS NOT LIABLE! Rape is a very unfortunate fact of life, and soon, we’re going to start hearing about cases of how the city police should be sued because they did not provide “enough protection.” On it will go. This is such a slippery slope and then when it goes to far, these same people are going to complain that we live in a “police state” and that there’s no privacy even in public.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:36 am
I’ll be curious to see the outcome of this case. In my opinion, it is ridiculous for the woman to sue a place of business for being raped by someone that did not work at that business. Now if she had been raped by the valet attendant it would be a completely different story. I think more focus should be place upon our moronic legal system that rewards huge monetary amounts for stupidity such as this. We need someone to filter out the idiots before they ever get to court, kinda like a producer would do on a call in radio show, instead of wasting millions of dollars of our tax money to try these type of cases.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:39 am
1st rape is not a crime of sex it is a crime of power and control to force a will or manipulation of another through a certain act or deed – sex is most commonly used as it is easiest way to break a persons resolve with shame or guilt along with a variety of other negative feelings that damage the mental and emotional state of a person.
2nd rape is not just a crime of man on woman it is predominate that way but not ONLY< men rape men this is rarely reported but is estimated to be many times higher then reported; women raping men is on the rise staggering increased reports around the world; women raping women hardly ever reported is estimated to be almost as high as men raping men….
finally – we talk about ignorant comments listed here but what of the facts? do we blame anyone for what some else has done to them no but can we as individuals take precaution KNOWING the world is an unsafe place? AND how much precaution is reasonable for someone to take? WHO determines this? Emotions don’t always dictate justice? or does it? or do the facts dictate justice? the question really remains are we judging the hotel and the victim based on facts or our emotions? how should we judge either side if at all? do we know all the facts of the situation? and what of the criminal isn’t he the real blame in all this? most reasonable women and men do not ask for any crime to happen, all we can do as an honest citizen is know the world is not safe and take the best actions we KNOW to protect ourselves. beyond that we rely on the law enforcement to protect us and the law to assemble the facts and decide our compensation for the pain we had put upon us that is what they are suppose to be for, aren’t they? FAIR for all weather the victim the bystander or the criminal. is it a perfect system? not anymore then we as individuals are. there will always be hind site to tell us we could have done better. all i can say is be angry that its unfair if is, but don’t let anger over power the just of reasoning. then we became the thing we were angry at to begin with.