$15.5 Million Verdict After Hyatt Failed to Check on Diabetic Guest Who Died in Her Room
Won by Greene Broillet & Wheeler.
A San Diego jury awarded $15.5 million after Hyatt hotel staff extended a diabetic guest's reservation without verifying her wellbeing, leaving Cindy Gonzalez uncontacted for nearly a day while she lay comatose between the beds in her room.
What happened
Cindy Gonzalez, 43, checked into a Hyatt hotel in San Diego for a work trip in 2022. She had Type 1 diabetes, and at some point during her stay she went into ketoacidosis and collapsed between the two beds in her room, out of sight from the doorway.
When Gonzalez did not check out at the scheduled time, a housekeeper looked briefly into the room but could not see her due to her small stature and position on the floor. Rather than send security for a wellness check, staff extended her reservation and moved on. It was only after her family filed a missing persons report that law enforcement went to the room and found her. She died shortly after reaching the hospital.
The family, represented by Bruce Broillet of Greene Broillet and Wheeler, argued that Hyatt violated its own internal policies. Those policies called for security to make direct contact with any guest who missed checkout, not simply to extend the reservation. The plaintiff's team presented evidence that a single security visit at the time of the missed checkout would have found Gonzalez alive and in time for medical intervention.
Hyatt countered on several fronts: that Gonzalez had a do-not-disturb sign on her door, that an earlier room-service delivery amounted to a wellness check, and that staff had no way of knowing she was diabetic. Defense counsel also argued that the circumstances fell within the hotel's 24-hour rolling window for mandatory checks.
The jury rejected those arguments. After a trial before Judge Kevin Enright that began June 23, 2026, jurors returned a verdict of $15.5 million on July 9, 2026. No appeal or remittitur had been filed as of the date of publication.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.Law360: Hyatt Owes $15.5M For Neglecting Guest Who Died, Jury Says (Jul. 9, 2026)
- 2.Courtroom View Network (CVN): Hyatt Hit With $15.5M Verdict Over Diabetic Guest's Death·Archived copy
- 3.Courtroom View Network (CVN): Hyatt's Checkout Policies Blamed At Trial For Diabetic Guest's Death·Archived copy
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