$55 Million Verdict for Fox Sports Broadcaster Secretly Filmed at Nashville Marriott
Won by Greene Broillet & Wheeler and Kinnard Clayton & Beveridge.
A Davidson County jury awarded Fox Sports reporter Erin Andrews $55 million after finding that the Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt negligently disclosed her room location to a stalker who altered a peephole to film her without consent.
What happened
In September 2008, Chicago-area insurance executive Michael David Barrett booked the hotel room adjacent to Erin Andrews at the Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt. He contacted hotel staff, confirmed Andrews was a guest, and arranged for a room next to hers. Using a hacksaw, he altered the door peephole to record her nude in her room. He later posted the footage online.
Barrett pleaded guilty to stalking and was sentenced to two and a half years in federal prison. Andrews, by then a Fox Sports reporter and co-host of "Dancing with the Stars," filed a civil lawsuit against Barrett and the two corporate entities that owned and operated the hotel: West End Hotel Partners and Windsor Capital Group. She sought $75 million in damages.
The trial opened in Nashville in late February 2016 before Judge Hamilton Gayden. Bruce Broillet of Greene Broillet and Wheeler argued that the hotel's staff had voluntarily confirmed Andrews's presence and room placement to a stranger, creating the conditions for the attack. "They knew the dangers associated with telling someone that Erin Andrews was at the hotel," Broillet told the court. The defense countered that Barrett alone was responsible and that the hotel maintained strong security ratings.
Andrews testified about the lasting psychological damage, telling the jury, "This happens every day of my life" in reference to the ongoing online presence of the footage and the daily taunting she endured. She described checking hotel rooms for recording devices and being pressured by her employer to give interviews denying the video was staged.
After deliberations, the jury on March 7, 2016 returned a $55 million verdict. It assigned 51 percent of the fault to Barrett, resulting in approximately $28 million against him, and 49 percent to the hotel entities, resulting in approximately $26 million against them. The hotel defendants and Andrews subsequently reached a confidential settlement in April 2016; the terms were not disclosed publicly.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.ABC News: Erin Andrews Awarded $55 Million in Lawsuit (Mar. 7, 2016)·Archived copy
- 2.ESPN: Jury Awards Erin Andrews $55 Million in Lawsuit Against Stalker, Hotels (Mar. 7, 2016)·Archived copy
- 3.The Hollywood Reporter: Erin Andrews Trial Moves to Jury Deliberations, naming Bruce Broillet (Mar. 4, 2016)·Archived copy
- 4.Sports Illustrated: Erin Andrews Awarded $55 Million in Marriott Lawsuit (Mar. 7, 2016)·Archived copy
- 5.Inner Circle of Advocates: 'Erin Andrews awarded $55 million in civil case over nude video' (listing Randall Kinnard as counsel)·Archived copy
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