Online Bedbug Posters Bitten By Hotel's Defamation Suit

Image via WikipediaIn Carleton Hotel LLC v. Michael Gladstone & Liora Braun, filed in Cook County (Ill.) Circuit Court this week, disgruntled hotel guests who posted on Tripadvisor.com about a hotel's alleged disinterest in their complaint about allegedly discovering a bedbug have been sued by the hotel.

The ABA Journal Law News Now blog  reports that the Carleton Hotel's complaint against the defendants includes counts alleging defamation, false light invasion of privacy and tortious interference with prospective economic advantage. The complaint alleges the defendants complained about finding a bedbug on the final night of their three-day stay at the plaintiff's facility in April, but that neither a hotel maintenance crew nor a pest control service discovered any of the small parasitic insects.

The hotel contends the defendants' Tripadvisor post that the hotel did not take their bedbug complaint seriously is false and harmful to its reputation.