Now’s not the time to be holding hotel stocks if this article is correct. According to USA Today, three major chains are about to be sued for ignoring human trafficking in some their properties.
According to the article, Choice Hotels International, Inc., Inter-Continental Hotels Corps., and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts have all ignored obvious signs of human trafficking in their properties.
In some cases, the suits allege that property management and/or maintenance staff were actually paid off by the traffickers to ignore what was going on in the hotel rooms.
About 1,500 victims of human trafficking have retained lawyers in the various lawsuits and as many as 7,000 are expected over time, said Paul Pennock, an attorney with the New York-based firm Weitz & Luxenberg, which is leading the efforts to consolidate the lawsuits.
A settlement could run into the billions of dollars, he said, because of the size of the problem and the evidence that hotels have long known of the trafficking.
“When you have something of that magnitude, the hotel industry, that dictates almost everything that happens in a hotel down to the writing pads next to your phone, need to take account of it and do something about it,” Pennock said.
USA Today
Stay tuned. This could be a major victory in the war against human trafficking.
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