A Delta flight attendant is suing the Westin Bonaventure, alleging she was awakened “with severe itching and burning” after being bitten by bed bugs during her stay at the downtown Los Angeles hotel in 2014.
Ritchie Chery’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges battery, negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress, fraudulent concealment and private nuisance.
Chery is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages in her lawsuit filed Friday. A Westin Bonaventure representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
According to the complaint, Chery checked into her Bonaventure hotel room on Nov. 5, 2014. Weary from traveling, she unpacked, took a shower and went to bed, the suit says.
“Barely an hour into her slumber, she was rudely awakened … with severe itching and burning all over her body, including on the right side of her face, her arms, her left index finger and down the side of her right thigh,” the suit states.
Chery, bitten about six to seven times, turned on the lights and found about 5 bed bugs on the bed and blood spots on the sheet, the suit alleges.
“She immediately notified the hotel management and took pictures of the bugs,” the suit says.
A hotel security employee arrived and confirmed the presence of the bedbugs, as did a manager who apologized to Chery, the suit alleges. Hotel management transferred her to another room and gave her alcohol preparation for the bites, but she was so traumatized that she sat awake in a chair, afraid to fall asleep, the suit says.
No hotel staff member contacted Chery the next day to see how she was doing, according to the suit. She says she had to throw out all of her clothing, including her Delta uniforms, that were exposed to the bed bugs.
“As a result, she left the hotel to go back to the airport that day with essentially none of her belongings,” according to her lawsuit.
After returning to her Georgia home, Chery sought medical treatment and was given a cream for her skin as well as pills to help her sleep, according to her suit, which says she has scarring and discoloration from her ordeal.
“For months after the incident, she suffered from severe insomnia and still experiences anxiety when sleeping, especially when staying in hotels,” according to the lawsuit.
—City News Service