Erin Andrews awarded $55 million in Marriott lawsuit
A jury awarded $55 million to Fox Sports reporter Erin Andrews in her lawsuit against a Nashville Marriott hotel on Monday.
Andrews sued the hotel alleging it acted negligently when allowing a man who was stalking her to book the room next to hers and surreptitiously film nude videos of her in 2008 while she worked for ESPN. The stalker, Michael David Barrett, posted the videos online and pleaded guilty to stalking charges, for which he was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
Andrews’s suit sought $75 million in damages. She testified in court last week that she has her hotel rooms checked for recording devices when she travels now and is still taunted with mentions of the video. She also said that, before she was allowed to return to the air, ESPN required her to give a sit-down interview asserting that the video was not a publicity stunt.
Andrews tweeted out a statement thanking the court and jury on Monday afternoon:
Barrett is responsible for 51% of the damages, while the Nashville Marriott and West End Hotel Partners, the company that owns the hotel, are responsible for the remaining 49%.
