Bed Bug Liability: Can You Sue?
Hotel bed bugs are tiny reddish-brown pests that can make your life miserable, covering you with painful bites that can cause allergic reactions and possibly hitchhiking their way into your home. A bed bug infestation can truly traumatize you and your family. If you are attacked while you are at a hotel, you may have grounds for a civil case.
Identifying the Pests
These bugs are about the size of apple seeds, which makes them difficult to spot. To protect yourself, you need to examine your room when you first check in. They will often hide in nooks and crannies like the spaces between cushions and the seams in sheets. Sometimes their excrement is easier to spot than they are. You may notice small black dots that bleed into the sheets or other fabrics. Unfortunately, you may not be able to see any signs until you wake up in the morning covered in numerous red bites with a darker red center. These bites will either be in a line or a cluster.
Hotel Owner Liability
Hotel owners have the responsibility to keep their facilities free of pests to the best of their abilities. If they let bed bugs or other pests thrive, they are liable for any injuries that you receive. Also, if the owners know that they have a bed bug problem, they must let you know about it before you check in.
Hotel owners may defend themselves by saying that you brought the bugs with you or that the bites were there before you checked in. They may even claim that the bites are not from bed bugs. You should seek medical treatment after you've been bitten to formally establish your claim.
Hiring a Lawyer
To receive fair compensation for your injuries, you will need to hire a personal injury lawyer from a firm like Schlicter & Schonack LLP. You should not simply accept what the hotel's insurance offers. Bed bug bites may cause serious skin problems as well as emotional distress. A lawyer can help you get more than just the amount of your medical bills.
Bed bugs are more than just a nuisance. They cause painful bites that can turn into more serious skin conditions. In addition, you may end up taking some of them home in your suitcase or on your person. You have the right to expect a room that is carefully monitored for pests and a staff that discloses any bed bug problem that they have. You should take what precautions you can, but ultimately, the hotel owner is responsible for keeping you safe from bed bugs.
