The alleged assault happened in March of 2024, according to the lawsuit.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Two women are suing a North Texas hotel over an alleged sexual assault that happened after they say a hotel employee let an intruder into their room.
The women allege in the lawsuit that they stayed at a Fairfield Inn & Suites in Downtown Fort Worth in March of 2024 for a work event when the assault reportedly happened.
The women state a man approached them while they were standing in front of the hotel and struck up a conversation with them, according to court documents. He reportedly mentioned he’d been living in the streets and the women had a brief conversation with him about his circumstances, they write in the lawsuit. Afterwards, the women returned to their rooms.
One of the women returned to find the other in bed asleep and was preparing to take a shower when she heard a banging on the door, and looked through the door’s peephole to find the same man outside, according to the lawsuit.
Believing the man wouldn’t be able to get inside, the woman started taking a shower and, while there, she heard the door open, according to the lawsuit.
She looked out to investigate and saw the man standing in their room by the door, the lawsuit alleges. The woman closed the bathroom door for a few minutes before getting out to find the man sexually assaulting her roommate and running to the front desk for help, the lawsuit alleges.
A front desk agent later admitted to giving the man a key to their room because he’d told the agent one of the women was his wife, according to the lawsuit.
Attorneys representing the women say surveillance footage indicates the front desk agent didn’t give the man a key, but instead used a master key to let him in, the lawsuit states.
The women called the police, who took them to a hospital so a forensic examination and rape kit could be performed, the lawsuit details.
According to the lawsuit, the identity of the intruder remains unknown.
The lawsuit, filed in October of 2024 in Dallas County, alleges negligence and seeks more than $250,000 in damages, court documents show.
“This isn’t a one-off. I’ve represented several women in similar cases. Hotel staff need to be trained and held accountable,” the women’s attorney Anna Greenberg said in a statement.
Our content partners at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram report the hotel denied liability in the case in court documents.
WFAA has reached out to the hotel for comment but has not heard back as of Thursday evening.