Fox sportscaster Erin Andrews was awarded $55 million dollars in a verdict in her lawsuit against hotel giant Marriott. The hotel chain was found 45% responsible while co-defendant Michael Barrett was awarded 51% of the responsibility in the “peephole incident” where he taped her nude in her hotel room. The resulting video was viewed over 16.8 million times per a forensic consultant who testified at the trial.
A jury of seven women and five men heard testimony over two weeks and debated a full day before reaching its verdict. Andrews testified the breach of privacy caused her significant emotional distress and that she still gets images of the video tweeted at her daily. Testimony at trial indicated she suffers from mile post traumatic stress disorder.
Marriott’s attorneys had argued the video actually helped her career and pointed out that she went on to get a higher paying job at Fox Sports (she was working for ESPN at the time.) She also competed on Dancing With the Stars, a reality show she went on to co-host as well.
Barrett, the defendant who actually took the video, was already serving a prison sentence for the illegal taping. He testified he acted alone but the hotel put him in a room next to Andrews per his request and allegedly provided other personal information.
Following the verdict, Andrews tweeted out a statement thanking the jury as well as the city of Nashville, Tennessee.
— Erin Andrews (@ErinAndrews) March 7, 2016
A breakdown of the award has not yet been provided but it seems likely a significant portion of the award is for punitive damages which are designed to punish defendants for especially egregious behavior. The attorneys for Marriott have indicated they will discuss whether to appeal but that almost certainly seems likely.
We will continue to keep you updated as the case progresses. Stay tuned to Pro Player Insiders for further developments. You can follow Sharona on twitter at @SportsBySharona.
More stories you might like
