Attorneys Mark Lanier and Monica Cooper recently appeared in numerous media outlets discussing the lawsuit filed by trial lawyers at The Lanier Law Firm. Hospitality companies including Best Western, Hyatt and Red Lion have ignored criminal activity occurring on their property and failed to protect victims of sex trafficking from exploitation. The federal lawsuit is part of a series of similar complaints seeking to hold hotel chains accountable for the sexual exploitation of women and children.
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“For too long, the industry has profited by looking the other way when sex trafficking has been happening right in front of them,” said Lanier Law Firm founder Mark Lanier. “We’re filing this lawsuit to get some justice for victims and to let these businesses know that their lack of action is unacceptable.”
Monica Cooper is an attorney at the Lanier Law Firm which has filed a lawsuit on behalf of an unnamed woman who said she was the victim of sex trafficking starting at the age of 4. The lawsuit is against well known hotel chains and alleges the hotel employees knew about on going sex trafficking activities that happened on site. They did nothing to stop the illegal activity and also profited from it.
Sex trafficking generates an estimated $99 billion each year, making it the second-largest illicit crime industry behind the sale of illegal drugs, according to the lawsuit. More than 60 percent of sex trafficking offenses occur in hotels, while eight out of 10 arrests for human trafficking occur in or around hotels, the lawsuit says.
