Wednesday, March 14, 2012

ESPN's Erin Andrews Refiles Lawsuit Against Marriott and Peephole Stalker

Erin Andrews is seeking $6 million in damages from the West End Marriott in Nashville and an additional $4 million from Michael Barrett, the man convicted of stalking Andrews and making nude videos of her through the peepholes of her hotel rooms. Barrett was sentenced last year to two and a half years in federal prison, after the videos were posted online and he was eventually identified as the source.

In the lawsuit and in her testimony at Barrett's sentencing hearing in 2010, Andrews noted that she continues to be a victim of her stalker and that the nude images of her in her hotel room will probably remain searchable on the Internet forever. The lawsuit accuses the Marriott of negligence on several levels, the most disturbing of which involves the manner in which Barrett was able to determine where Andrews was staying and then reserve the room immediately next door to her.

Barrett was apparently able to simply ask reservation agents with the Marriott which room Andrews was staying in and they were quick to give him that information. Barrett would then reserve an adjacent room and set up his peeping operation. The lawsuit also accuses the Marriott of negligence because they failed to notice that the peephole of Andrews' room had been altered by Barrett. That seems like a bit of a stretch, but warranted given the fairly egregious error Marriott made in revealing Andrews' exact location to Barrett in the first place.

Andrews continues to be a celebrated sideline reporter for ESPN and she also made a successful turn on Dancing with the Stars in the wake of the original peephole stalking scandal.

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