Adults and minors who were trafficked for commercial sex acts or labor at hotel properties may qualify to file a lawsuit and pursue justice and financial compensation with the help of our experienced, compassionate, trauma-informed, empathetic hotel sex trafficking lawyers.
Hotel trafficking lawsuits allege that hotels ignored obvious signs of human trafficking and profited from the trafficking by doing so.
Key Takeaways for Hotel Trafficking Survivors
- Adults and minors who were trafficked for commercial sex or forced labor at hotels may qualify to file lawsuits through federal and state laws such as the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA).
- Hotel trafficking victims can seek financial compensation for physical and psychological harm, medical expenses, lost wages and more.
- Parties who can be held liable in human trafficking cases include hotel owners, hotel operators, management companies and corporations.
- Victims may qualify to file lawsuits even if nobody was arrested, charged or convicted.
- There are strict time limits to file these lawsuits which depend on if sexual abuse occurred, the age of the victim at the time of the trafficking as well as the date the trafficking occurred.
Why Victims Trust our Human Trafficking Attorneys
- Many human trafficking lawyers accept all the cases they can without accounting for if they have the staff to handle them all, but our responsive legal team is fully staffed so we can provide you with 24/7 availability, reliable communication and frequent case updates.
- We have been trusted since 1990 to recover compensation for human trafficking victims.
- Our hotel human trafficking lawyers offer free consultations and we will charge you no legal fee until we win your case since our only fee is a percentage of any compensation recovered.
- Our high-stakes litigation team has the experience handling large hotel human trafficking cases and the comprehensive resources to take on large hotel chains and win.
- While some human trafficking law firms are willing to settle cheaply for a quick buck, our trial-ready representation is willing and ready to fight for you in court if a fair settlement canโt be reached out of court.
- We and our legal teams have recovered over $750 million for human trafficking victims and other injury victims.
Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. All cases are unique and results depend on casesโ specific facts.
Call our experienced sex trafficking lawyers today for a FREE, confidential consultation at (800) 718-4658 or contact us if you or a loved one was trafficked for commercial sex acts or labor at hotel properties. Our empathetic, compassionate, trauma-informed team can help you recover justice and compensation for medical bills, mental healthcare costs, lost wages, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, wrongful death and more and we will charge you no legal fee until we win your case.
Table of Contents
- Hotel Human Trafficking Lawsuits
- Who Qualifies to File a Hotel Human Trafficking Lawsuit?
- What Laws Allow Victims to File a Lawsuit Against Hotels for Human Trafficking?
- What Warning Signs Should Hotels Notice?
- What Compensation Can Hotel Abuse Survivors Recover?
- Recent Hotel Sex Trafficking Lawsuits
- Hotel Human Trafficking Prevention Policies
- How Long Do You Have to Sue a Hotel for Trafficking in California?
- When to Contact a Hotel Human Trafficking Attorney
- FAQs
- Hotel Human Trafficking Lawsuit Updates
Hotel Human Trafficking Lawsuits
Hotels that knowingly benefit from or ignore signs of sex trafficking can be held liable in civil court through the legal process.
Victims can file lawsuits under 18 U.S.C. ยง 1595, which creates a private right of action against any beneficiary of a trafficking venture.
Adults and minors who were trafficked for commercial sex or labor at a hotel may qualify to file a lawsuit.
Hotel trafficking lawsuits are often based on the theory that hotels profited from room rentals because they ignored signs of sex trafficking activities and failed to implement sufficient anti-trafficking policies.
Survivors may bring civil claims against businesses under the TVPRA if the businesses knowingly benefited from sex traffickersโ activity they knew or should have known was happening.
Who Qualifies to File a Hotel Human Trafficking Lawsuit?
Adults and minors who were trafficked for commercial sex or labor at a hotel premises may qualify to file a civil lawsuit.
Those who qualify to file claims include:
- Survivors who were sexually abused or trafficked as children at hotels, as well as their parents
- Adults who have been trafficked through coercion, fraud or force at hotels
- Families who are pursuing cases on behalf of hotel sex trafficking victims who are deceased
Survivors do not need to have contacted law enforcement to seek justice and pursue civil cases.
Victims who were trafficked in multiple locations or by organized networks may be able to file claims against multiple defendants simultaneously.
What Laws Allow Victims to File a Lawsuit Against Hotels for Human Trafficking?
The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) was put in place in 2003 as an extension of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), which was passed in 2000. It allows victims to file civil lawsuits against traffickers as well as those who benefit from trafficking activities.
18 U.S.C. ยง 1595 is the civil remedy provision of the TVPA. It allows survivors to sue anyone who โknowingly benefitsโ from trafficking.
Human trafficking victims are increasingly filing civil lawsuits against large hotel chains under the TVPRA. It holds corporations accountable when they knowingly benefit from trafficking.
Courts have held that renting a room to known traffickers can be considered a financial benefit under the TVPA.
Doe v Red Roof Inns saw the Eleventh Circuit hold that TVPRA beneficiary claims require allegations that:
- Knowingly benefited in a venture
- Participated in a venture
- Knew or should have known the venture involved trafficking
- The trafficking violated the statute
California Civil Code ยง 52.5 allows trafficking victims to recover actual damages and additional remedies.
Civil liability does not require a criminal conviction. Survivors pursue separate civil cases involving a lower burden of proof than is required in criminal court.
Defendants can include individual properties as well as parent corporate chains whose brand standards or training failures contributed to conditions which enabled trafficking.
What Warning Signs Should Hotels Notice?
Signs of human trafficking that hotel staff should recognize include the use of โDo Not Disturbโ signs, frequent male visitors at odd hours, and cash payments for rooms.
Indicators of human trafficking in hotels may include refusal of housekeeping services, excessive foot traffic, or visible signs of distress or injury on individuals.
Court cases have identified red flags regarding trafficking in hotels, such as rooms paid for in cash, a pattern of guests who appear controlled or fearful, and the presence of used condoms.
Additional warning signs of sex trafficking in hotels include:
- Guests who defer to others to talk for them and appear to be coached on what they should say
- Frequent requests for towels and linens
- Guests traveling without purses or wallets
- Guests using demeaning speech, emotional abuse or verbal threats against other guests
- Checking in for just a few hours
- Guests asking staff or other guests for money or food
- Guests avoiding interactions and eye contact with others
What Compensation Can Hotel Abuse Survivors Recover?
Hotel trafficking settlements and verdicts can vary significantly depending upon:
- Duration of trafficking
- Severity of harm
- Degree of hotel negligence
Our law firm can help you recover compensation via legal action for:
Medical Bills
Survivors who have been physically injured while they were trafficked may seek compensation for past and future medical costs related to the injuries. This includes financial compensation for things such as ER visits, hospital stays, medications, doctor visits, surgeries, medications, physical therapy, rehabilitation, medical treatments and more.
Mental Healthcare Costs
Human trafficking survivors could suffer from emotional and psychological injuries such as depression, anxiety or PTSD.
Survivors can seek compensation for any costs to treat these psychological and emotional injuries.
Lost Wages
Survivors may recover compensation for wages theyโre unable to earn because of trafficking or psychological, emotional or physical injuries related to trafficking.
Loss of Earning Capacity
Survivors left with disabilities because of trafficking can pursue compensation for any loss or reduction of earning capacity that results from a disability.
Pain and Suffering
Survivors can seek financial compensation for emotional distress, mental suffering and physical pain related to trafficking.
Wrongful Death
Families of loved ones who passed because of trafficking can seek compensation for things such as:
- Funeral and burial bills
- Medical bills incurred by their loved ones prior to their passing
- Pain and suffering endured by their loved ones prior to their passing
- The loss of their loved onesโ household services, spousal benefits, companionship, love and income
Recent Hotel Sex Trafficking Lawsuits
The hospitality industry, over the past several years, has faced a huge surge of civil litigation which targets major hotel chains for allegedly profiting from the trafficking of humans.
The legal landscape is transforming. This is resulting in massive jury verdicts as well as corporate settlements against hospitality properties.
High-profile lawsuits are targeting huge international hotel giants like Wyndham, Marriott and Hilton for ignoring human trafficking done on their properties.
Lawsuits claim that hotels had โactual or constructive knowledgeโ of human trafficking because of glaring red flags like visible signs of abuse and frequent cash payments.
Examples include:
- A lawsuit filed in a district court in Georgia alleges employees at an Atlanta Super 8 accepted money to be โlookoutsโ at a hotel front desk while men paid to rape a 16-year-old girl repeatedly.
- A federal jury awarded $40 million to a victim of sex trafficking which occurred at a Georgia motel. It found that the motel knowingly let the trafficking occur as well as ignored signs of abuse.
- A lawsuit filed against Wyndham Hotels and Motel 6 alleges that hotel employees participated in or facilitated the trafficking of a minor. It claims that they ignored clear abuse indicators.
- Three Northeast Philadelphia hotels settled a lawsuit for $17.5 million after they were accused of failing to stop the trafficking of minors on their properties between 2015 and 2017.
- A woman filed a lawsuit against Holiday Inn franchise operators. It alleges that hotel staff ignored obvious sex trafficking signs and continued to rent rooms, profiting from the illegal activity.
- In a recent ruling, a federal judge found that Red Roof Inns couldnโt escape liability in a sex trafficking lawsuit. The allegations suggested the hotel chain profited from human trafficking activities and ignored multiple red flags.
- Hundreds of active federal civil lawsuits filed under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) target the hospitality industry over allegedly turning a blind eye to trafficking.
Hotel Human Trafficking Prevention Policies
As lawsuits are mounting, states are now introducing mandatory human trafficking awareness training to be given to all hospitality staff.
Numerous states now mandate human trafficking awareness training be given to hospitality workers as a preventative measure.
Ongoing employee training and clear compliance and reporting procedures are vital for hotels to demonstrate due diligence as well as a commitment to preventing human trafficking.
Hotels are encouraged to collaborate with law enforcement as well as organizations like the End Child Prostitution and Trafficking (ECPAT-USA) in order to enhance their anti-trafficking efforts.
How Long Do You Have to Sue a Hotel for Trafficking in California?
Survivors who were adults at the time they were trafficked typically have 10 years from the date of the last trafficking incident in order to file a lawsuit.
Survivors who were children at the time they were trafficked, under the Eliminating Limits to Justice for Child Sex Abuse Victims Act of 2022, donโt have a time limit to file a lawsuit as long as they were under 28 when that law passed.
Claims which expired because of the statute of limitations before that law was passed are still barred.
What Is Californiaโs Sexual Abuse Claim Statute of Limitations?
If your trafficking claim has expired under the statute of limitations, you could still qualify to file a civil sexual abuse lawsuit in California.
Sexual abuse survivors who were abused as adults can file lawsuits as long as ten years after their abuse, or within three years of the discovery that an illness or injury resulted from the abuse, whichever comes later.
Survivors who were abused as children do not have a time limit to file a lawsuit if their abuse occurred after or on January 1, 2024.
Survivors who were abused as children before January 1, 2024 have until age 40 or within five years of the discovery that the abuse caused psychological harm, whichever comes later, to file a lawsuit.
When to Contact a Hotel Human Trafficking Attorney
Call us today for a FREE, confidential consultation at (800) 718-4658 or contact us if you or a loved one was trafficked for commercial sex or labor at a hotel property.
Our trauma-informed, compassionate, empathetic team can help you recover justice and compensation for medical bills, lost wages, mental healthcare costs, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, wrongful death and more.
We will charge you no legal fee until we win your case.
Call us today.
FAQs
Can You Sue a Hotel for Human Trafficking?
Yes. Hotels can be held liable in civil court when they knowingly benefit from or ignore clear signs of trafficking on their properties.
Do I Need a Police Report to File a Human Trafficking Hotel Lawsuit?
No. Police reports are not required to file civil lawsuits against hotels over human trafficking.
What If I Was Trafficked as a Minor?
Survivors of trafficking which occurred as a minor have no time limit to file a lawsuit as long as they were under 28 when the Eliminating Limits to Justice for Child Sex Abuse Victims Act of 2022 passed in 2022.
Hotel Human Trafficking Lawsuit Updates
March 12, 2026 Update
A lawsuit was filed on March 11 in Texas against numerous hotels alleging a woman was abused as a sex trafficking victim.
The lawsuit names the following defendants:
- Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
- Hotel Royale
- Budget Inn
- Camelot Inn & Suites
- Palace Inn
- Days Inn and Suites by Wyndham
The lawsuit alleges the hotels knew abuse was occurring on their properties and did nothing to stop it.
The lawsuit claims the hotel franchises were instrumental in sex trafficking rings in Houston, claiming they enjoyed significant revenue streams from the trafficking.
The lawsuit claims sex traffickers depend upon hotels, and alleges the hotels failed to comply with an anti-trafficking ordinance that Houston passed in 2020 which requires human trafficking certification and training for hotels.
August 19, 2025 Update
A lawsuit filed in Georgia on August 1 alleges that an Atlanta Super 8โs employees accepted money to be โlookoutsโ at the hotelโs front desk while men paid to rape a 16-year-old girl repeatedly.
The lawsuit names Lincoln Bancorp LLC as its defendant.
The lawsuit claims the girl was one of numerous children and women trafficked at that hotel, yet at no time did employees or management attempt to help them.
The lawsuit alleges that employees and management didnโt just profit from renting rooms, but also profited from direct payments from the traffickers.
The lawsuit claims the employees had a policy to not call law enforcement when they knew of sex trafficking happening at the hotel.
The lawsuit alleges employees intentionally rented rooms to trafficking victims which were in the back of the property to keep them out of the view of the public.
According to the lawsuit, one employee asked a trafficker if he could purchase a child for sex.
The lawsuit claims the employees simply watched while traffickers were violent with victims.
August 10, 2025 Update
A woman has filed two federal lawsuits against Motel 6 and Red Roof Inn, naming locations in New Jersey.
The lawsuits claim a trafficker sold her for sex numerous times at these motels when she was 17 and homeless.
The lawsuits allege hotel managers and staff saw clear signs of trafficking but failed to intervene.
The lawsuits claim the hotels profited by renting rooms despite clear abuse signs.
July 19, 2025 Update
A Georgia motelโs owners must pay $40 million to a sex trafficking survivor who claims staff knew she was being trafficked on their property yet failed to help her despite receiving a report that the girl was a missing person.
The woman was only 16 when sex traffickers allegedly held her at a Georgia United Inn & Suites for 40 days, where she was allegedly raped for money over 200 times.
Evidence was presented at trial showing that police contacted the motel, inquired about the girlโs whereabouts, and staff failed to tell law enforcement she was being trafficked there.
The lawsuit made note that the motel had a prior history of trafficking activity.
June 18, 2025 Update
A federal lawsuit filed in Los Angeles is accusing Holiday Inn franchise operators of knowingly facilitating human trafficking on hotel property.
The plaintiff is claiming that staff ignored obvious signs of trafficking and kept renting rooms, profiting from illegal activity as a result.
April 11, 2025 Update
A lawsuit claims that Red Roof Inns helped facilitate human trafficking at Columbus, Ohio properties.
The plaintiff alleges she was trafficked in multiple Red Roof locations where rooms got rented without ID and were used for commercial sex.
The lawsuit claims the traffickers had close relationships with hotel staff who enabled or ignored her abuse.
March 14, 2025 Update
Three Philadelphia hotels, North American Motor Inn, Days Inn and Motel 6, have agreed to pay $17.5 million in order to settle a lawsuit that was brought by three trafficking survivors who were allegedly trafficked as minors from 2015 to 2017.
The lawsuit claimed that hotel staff did not implement basic security measures. It also claims that the staff ignored clear signs of sex trafficking.
February 6, 2025 Update
A trafficking survivor filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles against Red Roof Inn, Wyndham Hotels and Motel 6 alleging that years of abuse happened at eight locations across Texas and California.
The plaintiff is claiming that hotel employees knew about the abuse and even participated in it or facilitated it.
The plaintiff claims she was trafficked as well as raped about 1,000 times.
January 4, 2025 Update
A lawsuit is accusing Holiday Inn franchise operators of profiting from and facilitating trafficking.
The lawsuit alleges the plaintiff was trafficked at numerous locations where hotel management and staff didnโt intervene despite multiple obvious signs of trafficking.
The lawsuit claims that the signs of trafficking included:
- Housekeeping staff being barred from entering rooms, with linens and towels exchanged outside of doors
- Cash payments for long stays
- Frequent male visitors at strange hours
