Can i sue a hotel for wrongfully accused of harrassment?

[shahn12]

I was at a conference with clients and potential clients in the hotel bar area and was leaving when several security officers including a police officer approached me and told me to leave for touching or harassing (I can't remember how they phrased it) a male cocktail server. The server supposedly pointed me out, out of hundreds of people. I was not even close to any servers at the time and I have several witnesses who were with me. I was completely humiliated in front of my clients and peers and this could affect my business. I was told to go to my room or I would be arrested for trespassing if I went back to the bar. Any security camera footage will prove me to be innocent.

 

[quincy]

I was at a conference with clients and potential clients in the hotel bar area and was leaving when several security officers including a police officer approached me and told me to leave for touching or harassing (I can't remember how they phrased it) a male cocktail server. The server supposedly pointed me out, out of hundreds of people. I was not even close to any servers at the time and I have several witnesses who were with me. I was completely humiliated in front of my clients and peers and this could affect my business. I was told to go to my room or I would be arrested for trespassing if I went back to the bar. Any security camera footage will prove me to be innocent.

What is the name of your state? What is the name of the state where this occurred?

 

[shahn12]

Florida

 

[quincy]

Florida

Florida is both your state and the state where you attended the conference?

I do not see that you have reason to sue the hotel, although it sounds as if the hotel could have handled the incident better. But you potentially have a legal action to pursue against the server who pointed you out as as the one who touched/harassed him.

What actual harm have you suffered?

 

[cbg]

To clarify - not, what harm are you afraid might happen in the future; what actual, measurable damages have you already suffered?

 

[shahn12]

I live in Orlando and the conference was in Orlando. They would not tell me who accused me of this, just a description the security guard gave me when I left the hotel later on. It did not look good to be surrounded by security and a cop in front of hundreds of people in my industry. I was with a potential client and another client. I could possibly not get business from the potential client and it could overall affect my business due to the optics of the situation.
Thank you for your help by the way!

 

[shahn12]

To clarify - not, what harm are you afraid might happen in the future; what actual, measurable damages have you already suffered?

Humiliation and potential loss of future business/clients.

 

[quincy]

I live in Orlando and the conference was in Orlando. They would not tell me who accused me of this, just a description the security guard gave me when I left the hotel later on. It did not look good to be surrounded by security and a cop in front of hundreds of people in my industry. I was with a potential client and another client. I could possibly not get business from the potential client and it could overall affect my business due to the optics of the situation.
Thank you for your help by the way!

I agree with you that being surrounded by hotel security and told to leave the premises would not exactly impress clients or potential clients.

Here is a link to Florida's defamation laws, published by the Digital Media Law Project:
http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/florida-defamation-law
In order to have a legal action worth pursuing, you will need to show not only that the words spoken about you and to you were slanderous, but you need to have evidence of harm to your reputation. This evidence can be the loss of a client or the rejection by a prospective client, if these can be tied directly to the incident.

In addition, you must show negligence on the part of the server and the hotel staff in their presuming you were the one who touched/harassed the server (if the server was, in fact, touched/harassed) and negligence in their acting on this presumption.

 

[cbg]

POTENTIAL loss is not enough. You need ACTUAL loss.

 

[quincy]

POTENTIAL loss is not enough. You need ACTUAL loss.

Injury to the reputation includes damage to the esteem or social standing in which one is held. That harm is harder to quantify.

Because defamation suits provide monetary compensation to a defamed individual for the reputational harm suffered by the communication of false words about the individual, the value placed on this type of harm is often left for a jury to decide.

 

[shahn12]

So it does not look like I should pursue any action? Would I have to have the surveillance video subpoena'd by an attorney?

Thanks again for the help!

 

[quincy]

So it does not look like I should pursue any action? Would I have to have the surveillance video subpoena'd by an attorney?

Thanks again for the help!

You can review the facts with an attorney in your area and discuss the need for the surveillance video. I can't tell you whether the incident in the hotel has led, or will lead, to harm enough to your reputation to make a legal action worth the costs of pursuing. Defamation suits tend to be lengthy and expensive.

I think you should, at the very least, contact the hotel to inform them of the humiliation you suffered in front of your clients and peers due to the falsehood communicated by the server and by the actions of the hotel staff in responding to the false accusation. I do not see the staff's response as justified, based on what you have said here.

 

[quincy]

Additional note: The statute of limitations for filing a defamation claim in Florida is two years from the date of first publication (communication) of the defamatory words.

You have, in other words, some time to assess the damage this single incident has caused to your reputation. But, because memories fade, you do not want witnesses to forget what they saw and heard. It can be important, therefore, to get written statements from witnesses while the incident is still fresh.

This is something to discuss with the attorney you see, if you choose to have an attorney in your area review the matter.

Good luck.

 

[shahn12]

Great information. Thank you!

 

[quincy]

Great information. Thank you!

You're welcome, shahn12. Thanks for the thanks.