Gress v. Lakhani Hosp. - 2018 IL App (1st) 170380, 424 Ill. Dec. 901, 110 N.E.3d 251

Rule:

A guest, who is either asleep in her room or about to enter her room, should not be subjected to the risk of an assault. A guest has a right to rely upon the innkeeper doing all within his power to avoid or prevent such an assault, and to that end should be required to exercise a high degree of care.

Facts:

On the evening of October 2, 2013, Karla Gress was a guest at the Holiday Inn Chicago-Skokie (Skokie Holiday Inn), which was owned and/or managed by defendants Lakhani Hospitality, Inc. (LHI), and Mansoor Lakhani (Lakhani). After eating dinner and consuming an alcoholic beverage in the hotel restaurant, Karla went to her room where she was subsequently raped while unconscious, allegedly by the hotel security guard who also did some maintenance work at the hotel. Karla and her husband, Dean Gress (via a loss of consortium claim) (plaintiffs), brought a premises liability action against LHI; Lakhani; hotel Director of Operations Sheila Gilani; and the LHI franchisors, Intercontinental Hotels Group Operating Corporation and Intercontinental Hotels Group Resources, Inc. (collectively Intercontinental). As to the alleged offender, Alhagie Singhateh, plaintiffs claimed that he committed assault and battery, as well as intentional infliction of emotional distress and gender violence. Plaintiffs also sued Intercontinental and Hostmark Hospitality Group, Inc. (Hostmark) for negligently hiring and retaining Singhateh, alleging that Hostmark processed Singhateh's initial job application but failed to discover his arrest for soliciting a prostitute. Finally, plaintiffs sued Intercontinental for negligent training and supervision of LHI employees. The trial court dismissed, with prejudice, the premises liability counts and also the counts related to negligent hiring and retention and negligent training and supervision under section 2-615 of the Code of Civil Procedure (Code) (735 ILCS 5/2-615 (2012)), leaving the unrepresented alleged perpetrator as the lone defendant.

Issue:

Were plaintiffs able to allege an existing special relationship duty of care between LHI and its employees as the innkeeper and Karla as the guest?

Answer:

Yes.

Conclusion:

Plaintiffs were able to adequately plead a constructive notice for the duty of care of the hotel, which supported the foreseeability of the risk of harm to Karla both as a matter of law and fact and, moreover, that the allegations were sufficient to state a cause of action. In plaintiffs' complaint, for example, they identified several incidents where items were stolen from other LHI guests' rooms while those guests were elsewhere, and in addition, the pertinent records involving the use of key cards to enter at least one of these guests' rooms showed that only hotel personnel had access to the rooms. Singhateh himself had a prior arrest, damaging reports in his personnel file with respect to another female hotel guest, and had previously harassed managers, searching their bags absent consent. The hotel, additionally, condoned a licentious atmosphere which included drugs, prostitution, and disabling of security cameras. As in previous cases, the crime that Singhateh was alleged to have committed was thus foreseeable, notwithstanding the absence of specific facts showing that either Singhateh or another LHI employee had previously committed a sexual assault against another guest. Likewise, as in Mrzlak, the evidence showing the hotel's extent of knowledge about the character of its particular hotel, including its location and employees, and previous crimes committed in the hotel, as well as any precautionary measures taken, all involved a question of foreseeability for the jury's consideration under both a fleshed-out negligence duty element and causation element analysis.

Further, plaintiffs had adequately pleaded that defendants ought to have foreseen that their security guard/handyman might commit an offense against this incapacitated woman once he gained private and protected access to her hotel room. There was simply no legal requirement that they would necessarily have to foresee the specific way in which he would offend their hotel guest, so their conduct presents a factual issue related to proximate cause for the jury to decide, not by a judge in a motion to dismiss.