“[He] was sleeping, and he woke up to a common, and he woke up and said there were bats flying around his room,” an attorney for the pilot said.
A commercial pilot is suing Marriott International, saying he was attacked by a swarm of bats in a Denver-area Sheraton last August.
According to The New York Times, the pilot claims to he was bitten in the foot, forcing him to undergo expensive and time-consuming rabies treatment. In court filings, attorneys say that, when the pilot asked for a new room, Sheraton staff refused to even consider his request.
Edward Lomena, an attorney for the pilot, said that his client asked that his name be withheld due to concerns about his job security. The New York Times notes that Lomena described his client as a 46-year-old married father who lives in Anaheim, California.
Now, Lomena’s client is seeking damages to cover his medical expenses—estimated around $102,000—as well as the “pain and suffering” he experienced after waking up to find a swarm of bats in his hotel room.
“[He] was sleeping, and he woke up to a common, and he woke up and said there were bats flying around his room,” Lomena said of the incident.
The lawsuit indicates that hotel maintenance was called to remove the bats but missed at least one member of the colony. Aside from refusing to let the pilot move to another room, Sheraton staff allegedly failed to plug a hole under the air conditioner, a likely entry-point for the bats.
“So the next morning, he gets up, and that’s what he sees,” Lomena said. “Hanging from the curtain rod, a bat hanging upside-down.”
Before checking out, the pilot noticed and took a photograph of what appears to be a set of prominent fang-marks on his foot.
“He was bit by a bat,” Lomena said. “He was scared he was going to die and leave his family without a father.”
Bats are a common carrier of rabies. Without prompt treatment, rabies is almost always fatal.
Lomena told The New York Times that he tried negotiating an out-of-court settlement with Marriott, but that the company’s offer “wasn’t even a quarter of what the medical bills were.” He said it felt like Marriott wasn’t taking the claim seriously, arguing that nobody—certainly not the hotel chain—should be held liable for an errant swarm of bats.
Nevertheless, Lomena said that these incidents aren’t common and don’t simply occur in isolation. “If they did,” he said, “we’d hear about it all the time.”
Lomena said that the incident has left a profound mark upon his client, who regularly travels for work.
“He’s always staying in hotels because of his job, so now anytime he goes to a hotel he’s constantly searching around the room, looking for openings, looking for ways wildlife can get into his room,” he said. “It’s hard for him to sleep.”
Sources
Denver hotel guest says he was bitten by bat while sleeping, has filed lawsuit
Pilot Was Bitten by Bat After Swarm Invaded Hotel Room, Lawsuit Says
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