$250,001 – Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Biby Law Firm’s client was a regular guest at the Hampton Inn & Suites—-Catoosa as he routinely came to the area for work. In March of 2022, he was nearly killed when exposed to carbon monoxide escaping from the boiler/hot water room below. Noted in the investigating fire chief’s report was the fact that he was the third person they had to respond to in the same room in the previous two weeks. After the claim was denied by Hilton and the franchisee, Biby Law Firm litigated the case and uncovered numerous failures on behalf of the respective Defendants. Hilton mandated that CO detectors be present in any room with fuel-fired equipment, but the franchisee did not have any in place since the hotel opened over ten years prior to the incident. Throughout that time period, inspections and reviews performed internally by the franchisee, and by Hilton, falsely reported those detectors to be present and in good working order, when they in fact did not even exist. This case resulted in the first judgment in America against a hotel chain after a patron was injured from a carbon monoxide leak.