http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2551245,00.html
The Times January 17, 2007
Top lawyer sues for millions over bedbug ordeal at hotel
Lucy Bannerman
An American entertainment lawyer and his wife are seeking millions of
dollars in compensation for being traumatised by bedbugs at one of
London's top luxury hotels.
Sidney Bluming, 62, who has represented Dame Elizabeth Taylor and the
model Claudia Schiffer, claims that he and his wife, Cynthia, were
covered in red, itchy welts from the insects after a five-night stay at
the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park Hotel last May.
Lawyers acting for the couple confirmed yesterday that they had filed a
multimillion-dollar lawsuit with the federal court in Manhattan, for
the "mental harm and anguish" that they suffered as a result of the
infestation.
Michael Weinstein, representing the Blumings, told The Times: "They
have obviously suffered physical harm as well as mental harm. People
associate bedbugs with more of a lower-end class of hotel. Clearly,
that's not the case here."
Mr Bluming, who has 35 years' experience in entertainment and
intellectual property law, and his wife claim that the bugs found their
way into their luggage and wound up infesting their own apartment in
New York, which then had to be fumigated.
Cynthia Bluming, 60, who is in remission from cancer, said that she was
emotionally traumatised by the incident, and that she had to be careful
that her immune system was not harmed by the unwelcome insects.
The couple were staying in a =A3250-a-night room at the hotel, which has
suites costing up to =A35,000, during a five-day business conference.
The lawsuit alleges that they were humiliated and embarrassed by the
unsightly wounds on their skin as they flew home and, for weeks
afterwards, they were haunted by fear of the bedbugs. As a result, they
woke up in the middle of the night with real or imagined itches that
led them to conduct a frantic search of their bedroom and clothing for
the insects.
"They wake up fitfully to check their bed for infestation or see if
they've been bitten by bedbugs," Mr Weinstein said.
He added that the hotel had been slow to respond to requests for
information about the infestation and has still not handed over a
report prepared by an exterminator.
The hotel chain is accused in the lawsuit of fraud, deceptive trade
practice, negligence, recklessness, nuisance and in- tentional
infliction of emotional distress.
Danielle DeVoe, a vice-president of Mandarin Oriental Group in the
Americas, confirmed that there was "a regrettable but isolated
incident of infestation". She said that a full investigation had been
carried out after the problem had been reported.
"There have been no subsequent incidents and the matter has been
referred to our insurers," she said. "Our policy is to operate with
the highest standards of conduct with stringent hygiene systems at all
of our hotels to safeguard the health and safety of our guests."
Late-night bite
# The common bedbug, Cimex lectularius, is a small, red-brown, wingless
parasite that feeds on blood
# The adult is less than 5mm (0.19in) in length
# Mattresses are usually their habitat of choice, but they may also be
found in carpets and cracks in walls
# Each female lays two to three eggs a day. The cream-coloured eggs
(1mm long) are cemented on to surfaces of hiding places
# They are attracted by their hosts' body heat, carbon dioxide in
exhaled air, human sweat and/or odour
# To kill the bedbugs wash, vacuum and clean surfaces and bedding. Use
hot water and a dryer on the hottest setting source: www.killbedbugs.org
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