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 6:42 am
This disgusts me and will give me cause to think before staying at a Marriot hotel in the future.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:44 am
The news article states:
The suit claims that when at least one employee noticed Fricker loitering and acting suspiciously the day before the attack “no employee of the Mariott Hotel or any of the other defendants took any steps to question, interrupt or otherwise discourage the assailant’s conduct.”
Lawyers also wrote that the hotel and garage were negligent because they didn’t’ take “reasonable security precautions” and failed to “adequately monitor and patrol” the lot.
Hmmmm
Well now … Hotels have to take reasonable measures to ensure the security of their guests. I have to say, having stayed at quite a few Marriots .. the parking garages and areas are not monitored in any way as far as I can tell. So … hindsight being 20/20 … I suppose I should have ponied up for valet parking to make sure some crazy wasn’t lurking around looking for a crime of oppportunity I guess.
So the question for the courts is … Is it the responsibility of the Hotel to take reasonable measures to ensure the safety of their paying guests and WHAT is considered reasonable? The fact that this guy was spotted loitering the day before is a real red flag for the jury. A call to the police that day might have scared the guy off that lot.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:44 am
Did any of you consider the possibility that the hotels defense team issued these ridiculous statements because they wanted people to hear about the case? Once they got some publicity because of the sheer absurdity of their claims that the woman was at fault people would hear the story of a hotel being sued because of a rape. The more publicity they get the more defenders they get, while also getting people riled up about their statements
August 16th, 2009 at 6:45 am
This is completely insane!!! To still publish that it’s the fault of a woman being raped on the front of her own children in a Hotel Parking Lot. I believe that first of all this nepotism (some sort of Mafia arrangement of tings should end at some point in a civilized country like ours), therefore we should make adjustments on some laws and held responsible those in charge with the security in such places. Of course, the Hotel insurance won’t be proud (in our current time) to pay for the “damage” suffered by this woman. However, I still believe that if I personally was the husband or boyfriend of that woman (or at least the father of the children), I’ll have put my life on the line to make a change on this issue.
Any sane person, how would imagine as a child to watch your mom being raped and still be hold accountable for that? Where was the security? Why they didn’t have any video cameras to survey the act and to act right then to defend a helpless woman being raped in the front of her own children? Those in charges with the Security (at the time of the incident) should receive a similar punishment (just as the perpetrator) and the hotel Management should be responsible for not having someone in charge to supervise the policies of the Security Company. Ultimately their insurance should pay dearly for insuring such people without enforcing the Hotel Security policy.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:47 am
One has to know that a business should not be held at fault for this crime, however a person would also think that a hotel would want to protect its guests. Being in property management myself I know we work very hard to keep our guests safe. If someone was wondering around our lot or had a untagged car parked in it they would have been told to leave at once. This hotel chain should never have placed the blame on the victim here. I wonder if they even hepled to secure justice for her, or came to her aid after the attack. The hotel chain should consider taking some kind of action agnist the attacker themselves and leave this victim alone.A business should not be held at fault but should render aid to the victim in some form. We offer an emergency responce team for a victim of any crime or emergency. and to my knowing have never blamed a victim im any way eather in public or in court. We cant stop crime but we can offer support and good business should do so without fail. clearly they do not care for there guests just there credit cards, where im sure advanced security is already in place.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:48 am
Why is she suing the hotel? The world is a daangerous place and people are responsible for taking care of themselves. The hotel cannot control who enters the parking lot, but she should have been aware of his presence. Security gaurds and cameras would not have prevented this. The rapist is guilty but she should have been careful
August 16th, 2009 at 6:49 am
please give me a break, “the same way it was my fault when my neice and I were hit by a car when the driver came over the curb”…. this is wrong on sooooo many levels. I feel for those children, and this women…
August 16th, 2009 at 6:56 am
It’s a legal teams job to come up with a defense, however insidious it might be, so don’t blame the hotel. Besides, didn’t her lawyer come up with a variety of thin excuses why the hotel should be responsible?
Regardless of the amount of due care the hotel exercised, I can guarantee that the rapist exercised more. Some criminals simply can’t be deterred.
She claims that the rapist had been hanging around outside the hotel and acting suspiciously for days. That alone tells me that he was waiting for the perfect opportunity and no amount of security measures were going to prevent what happened.
The hotel says they were never informed of his presence. If that’s so, the victim did indeed fail to exercise “…due care for her own safety and the safety of her children and proper use of her senses and facilities.”
I don’t ever think it’s fair to sue a business for an act committed by a third party as long as they provide reasonable security and a reasonably safe environment.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:58 am
This is among the most despicable acts a human being can commit. This is without dispute. However I must advocate for personal responsibility. Each of us has a certain amount of personal responsibility for our own safety. What if she had looked around and seen this suspicious person and locked herself in her car and drove off? Attacks in parking lots are a known concern, there are videos available which teach you how to get out of your self absorbed little world and actually see and notice things that are going on around you and react to those things. You can learn self defense, there are a number of arts designed specifically for women, a few aimed specifically at how women can protect THEMSELVES against these sort of attacks.
This crime is preventable, not by implementing a POLICE STATE, but with a certain level of preparedness of the “victim”…this is a fact
We are a society of victims, and I refuse to participate in it. Everyone repeat after me… “Everything that does or does not happen to me is a result of my own decisions and actions, and I cannot blame any person aside from myself for my lack of preparation and participation in MY life.” For the thick skulled, no this does not mean she chose to be raped, this means she chose to be unprepared and unobservant.
This is YOUR life my friends, take control of it or let it be taken control of by others, simple.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:58 am
NO ONE is responsible for your personal protection but YOU.
However, if the Marriot had forbidden the woman the right to protect herself – then they would, by their actions, become the responsible party.
The police are not responsible for your personal protection, just ask them. They are responsible for the protection of society at large.
The woman should have had a weapon, preferrably a handgun, and she should have known how to use it. Then, the rapist would be dead as the rapist deserves.
The woman chose rape. Before anyone gets really pissed off at me for this statement – consider – she was offered the choice, rape or the possibility of being shot. She could have chosen the right to fight off her attacker. How old were the kids? WHy didn’t they fight the attacker? Why does everyone just mill around like a bunch of damn sheep waiting for their attackers to do what ever they please – FIGHT! It is your RIGHT!
It is not Marriot’s responsibility to send a personal bodyguard around with you while you are on their property. Get trained, get a weapon, be responsible!!!!! Then, we would not need storm troopers for police.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:59 am
Generally, businesses are not responsible for the criminal acts of unknown 3rd parties. This rule applies because one of the tenets of negligence requires that an act be forseeable. Marriott gets a bite of the apple here since the criminal actions of an unknown 3rd party are not foreseeable; however, not so in the future!! As a rape has now occurred in its parking lot, it is foreseeable at such an act may occur in the future. In fact, if the woman can show that there have been other similar crimes in the Marriott parking lot, she may very well prevail in the case.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:59 am
A POLICE STATE
In order for this to never happen again, the hotel must build a big iron fence around its entire property. All establishments everywhere must do this. Then, they must post a guard right at the gate. Come to think of it, I’m going to go sue the cops because I was burgled and claim they don’t provide enough protection. It’s their fault. See where all of this is heading? A POLICE STATE! But then, I’ll complain as hotel prices and protection taxes skyrocket.
August 16th, 2009 at 7:01 am
I was on the hotel’s side until the part where they blamed her. Now I think she should sue the hell out of them. Sometimes, bad s*it happens. Just because it happened in a hotel parking lot, doesn’t make them at fault. But, when the hotel comes out and blames the woman for getting raped in front of her kids- that crosses a line and now they should support this woman and her kids.
August 16th, 2009 at 7:03 am
The Rapist deserves life in prison for his crime. There is no excuse ever for committing a rape. At the same time I don’t let my daughter leave the house unless she is dressed modestly. Lets face facts how a women dresses controlls the thoughts of men. We know there are many predators out there. The ideologies of our times don’t let us blame the women, but many cultures have very strict rules regarding modesty. This is one of many cases as to why.
August 16th, 2009 at 7:04 am
it is an induviduals personal responsiblity to protect themselves. what should have people pissed is that this man only got 20 years in prison, so most likely able to get parroled in 12 tops. he should be put to death.
August 16th, 2009 at 7:05 am
this why this country sucks.
August 16th, 2009 at 7:09 am
I certainly am sympathetic towards the woman who was raped. However, it wasn’t the Marriott who raped her, so why is she suing them? I can tell you why … MONEY! So, what are they supposed to do about it now? I think their only defense is to countersue, so that is what they are doing. This is just another example of the “sue happy” society which has taken hold in the USA these days … in which a person blames a corporation in order to get MONEY. Is money supposed to cause her to be unraped? It’s that sucker in prison who is at fault … and notice that he only got 20 years! He’ll probably get out in much less time. I think that is the real travesty … not harsh enough punishment for criminals who commit these acts.
August 16th, 2009 at 7:12 am
having managed hotels for almost 20 years, i can tell you the hotel is definitely at fault, negligence for sure. in response to “bill” actually they did invite her, and every other person who reads their ads. what do you think marketing is!!!! the hotel failed to take reasonable care in providing a safe environment for its guests. and by the way, a lot of women travel with their children, sometimes it is even for legitimate reasons (this is a sarcasm, for u idiots who assume she was “meeting” someone. time for corporate to own up to its mistake and admit it was negligent. I will never stay at a marriott or any of its sister hotels again
August 16th, 2009 at 7:17 am
Please read the stories before commenting. Each of the three stories has a different angle and two of them directly contradict each other. One story says that the guy had been seen “acting suspicious” for by at least one employee but was never confronted. Another says that the victim had seen him acting suspicious. BIG difference.
It is pretty tough to have an opinion on this without having the facts. Maybe that’s why our Judicial System has been put in place.
The only opinion I have at this time is that the Defense team could easily have denied any wrong-doing by the hotel without shooting accusations back at the victim. So far, all I can see is that the hotel is guilty of “Bad Form!”
August 16th, 2009 at 7:18 am
simply put, the defense lawyers played this down the line. Nobody even lawyers are so stupid to lay this down in court and not expect some sort of repercussions. This was intentional but still stupid. The woman need not of sued for how can the hotel be held responsible for the criminal act of others? This has got to be a pr stunt of some stupid kind. And to say that these lawyers graduated from college and earned a degree? Says a lot about our educational institutions.
August 16th, 2009 at 7:21 am
The rapist, 56 year old Gary Fricker, had been arrested over 20 times and was wanted in Florida on an arson case at the time.
Hey, I guess this was preventable. May I suggest a new target for the lawsuit.
August 16th, 2009 at 7:22 am
With the poor judgement in picking its arguement that the Hotel attorney used it let me thinking that they have a poor security for its facility as well. And lot of crimes happen in parking lot in Hotels my brother in laww got his motocycle stolen inside a restrict access parking lot were they charge him 10$ every day. We suspect of the hotels employees. But they just have those little letters were they said they are not responsible.So this is another way for showin us how little they care for there costumers and their property.
August 16th, 2009 at 7:25 am
Regardless of the ridiculous responses I’ve read about security not being the responsibility of places of buisness, it IS the responsibility of the hotel to provide a safe enviroment for their guests. That enviroment is not merely restricted to the portion of the hotel with rooms, but extends to aspects of the property – swimming pool, parking facilities, etc. If, indeed, this man was lurking about and hotel employees had knowledge of such, there is foreseeable potential for this crime. If, indeed, the parking facility did not have adequate lighting, security measures, and monitoring, there is foreseeability for this crime. If none of these conditions occurred, then they should not be held liable. For the neanderthal sub human people who are suggesting the woman is “trying to get paid for something she’s done before” – what a evil, deplorable, and INCORRECT statement. This woman may have had consensual sexual contact with a man of her choosing and leading to the births of her children, but was she forced to submit her body for some stranger’s twisted power trip, forced at gunpoint, in front of her children? No, and if those who made that statement still say there’s no diffence, how would you like your wife violated so brutally, you children traumatized so horribly? Oh, wait, you probably don’t have a wife or any meaningful relationship with a woman, do you? And, since you probably had some type of sexual encounter in your life, how would you feel if someone bent you over and did what they wanted to you with a gun to your head, since after all, you’ve had sex before? Oh, that type of sex isn’t something you’ve done before, you say? Well, neither is the type of sex this woman was so brutally forced into.
August 16th, 2009 at 7:28 am
I can tell you that Marriot sounds bitter and disgruntled about the law suit against them, which is understandable because it is not their fault, but they are pretty much saying this woman was negligent and got what she deserved. It is her fault she was raped. I travel a lot and I will never stay at any of their hotels or anyone associated with them. I can’t believe they would say that and put the blame on this woman. Also, whoever they are seeking legal council from is not very smart to allow this statement to go before the public. Women and children get raped everyday and according to Marriot apparently it is their fault. WOW. I pray they loose business and that no woman pay to stay at their hotels because ladies, if God forbid a sexual predator just happens to be staying at their hotel and gets his hands on you, according to Marriot, you deserve it.
August 16th, 2009 at 7:28 am
i think the only failure here was the hotel didn’t provide adequate security for its customers. if you can’t feel safe in a hotel or its parking facility where can you. typical cop out by a company caught not doing its job. manager must be ex-polititian. sure knows how to pass the blame.