In a federal lawsuit, a couple claims an employee at the Ritz Carlton in San Francisco served water to a woman that contained his semen, but the hotelier allegedly did next to nothing to address their claims of sexual assault.
According to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the couple, identified only as Jane and John Doe, checked into the Ritz Carlton at Half Moon Bay Resort in November 2022.
"Unbeknownst to Jane and John Doe, one the hotel’s employees ejaculated his semen into a Ritz-Carlton labeled water bottle, delivered it to Jane and John Doe’s room, and Jane Doe then drank the semen-contaminated water before she realized it had been defiled by a criminal deviant and that she had been sexually assaulted," the suit says. "Once Jane Doe realized that the taste and texture of the water she had ingested may have been semen, she and her husband immediately contacted Ritz-Carlton management as well as the local police."
The hotel had the water tested and the results confirmed that it has been contaminated with semen, the suit says.
"But the Ritz-Carlton then declined to cooperate further," the suit says. "The Ritz-Carlton refused to cooperate with law enforcement’s investigation to identify and apprehend the assailant, and refused to compensate Jane and John Doe for the sexual assault beyond offering them a few measly Marriott rewards points - which, of course, could only be used for another anxiety-inducing stay at a Ritz-Carlton property."
The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, plus attorney fees.
The couple is represented by Indira J. Cameron-Banks and Terrence M. Jones, of Cameron Jones LLP, of Whittier.
Doe v. Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, CV23-5218.