A southern California woman is suing Disney for damages following an April stay at the Disneyland Hotel during which she said she was bitten numerous times by bedbugs in her Frontier Tower room.
Ivy Eldridge, 41 of Riverside, was visiting the Disneyland Resort with her family, and according to her lawyer, Disney “did not provide a bedbug-free hotel room.”
Eldridge’s attorney Brian Virag, from the firm My Bed Bug Lawyer Inc., pointed to a 2016 case in which Disney was sued over a bedbug issue at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. Virag claims that the Disneyland Hotel already knew it had a problem with bedbugs and their failure to correct the problem “was so extreme and outrageous as to go beyond the bounds of decency.”
The lawsuit also claims that Eldridge has “endured many sleepless nights and much emotional and mental distress, coupled with other physical conditions associated with severe mental and emotional distress.”
Eldridge is suing for punitive damages, plus damages for physical and mental suffering. The lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, and the Disneyland Hotel does not specify a dollar amount for those damages.
According to Disneyland spokesperson Liz Jaeger, Disney has not yet seen the lawsuit, but said that “these occurrences are extremely rare. We take extensive preventative measures so that our guests are comfortable and safe during their hotel stays and when needed take aggressive steps to rectify.”
Attorney Virag has been involved in other bedbug related lawsuits as well, including a $3.5 million verdict over a 4,000 unit Los Angeles area apartment complex and a $546,000 verdict against a Hilton in Rancho Cucamonga.
Sources: Los Angeles Times | My Bed Bug Lawyer, Inc.
