Woman Sues Starwood Hotels For Giving Room Key to Groping Drunk Man

A New York business woman is suing Starwood Hotels and Resorts for giving her room key to a drunk man who entered her room uninvited and sexually assaulted her.

Alison Fournier, with the help of Gloria Allred, announced the lawsuit during a press conference today.

Fournier says that she was sleeping naked in her room at Hotel Kamp on January 15th, 2011. She woke up to find a drunk man in her bed groping her body. Fournier claims that the front desk agent gave the man a key to her room after the main claimed to be her husband. According to the lawsuit, the front desk did not ask for any identification.

Fournier said:

“To this day, I still suffer from the memories of that night and I am still not able to put it behind me.”

Allred said that the man had been harassing Fournier at the hotel bar. Fournier retired to her room to get rid of the man, but because of Starwood Hotels’ lax security, that was impossible.

Allred said:

“Business women have a right to safety and security and especially need that safety and security when traveling abroad. They are particularly vulnerable when traveling alone. Starwood’s negligence, misconduct and reckless disregard for the safety of Ms. Fournier has led to devastating and life changing consequences for her. … They need to be fully accountable and make sure that this never happens again.”

The lawsuit also states that Fournier changed careers after the incident so that she wouldn’t have to travel as much.

Starwood Hotels released a statement, saying:

“The safety and security of our guests is our first and foremost priority. It is company-wide policy to ensure proper identification is shown and verified before distributing a key to a registered guest’s room. We are taking this allegation seriously and are working with the hotel in question to understand the facts and any breach of security that may have contributed to this very unfortunate event. “

Do you travel for business? Have you ever been given a key to the wrong room?