Randall Kinnard: Erin Andrews awarded $55 million in civil case over nude video

Erin Andrews awarded $55 million in civil case over nude video

http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/crime/2016/03/07/erin-andrews-awarded-55-million/81367588/

The Tennessean, March 8, 2016:  Adam Tamburin and Stacey Barchenger

In a statement, Andrews thanked the jurors and Nashville for support.  

After an emotional trial centered on nude videos secretly taken of Erin Andrews, a Nashville jury on Monday awarded the television broadcaster $55 million, to be paid by her stalker, a local hotel's management group and its owner.

The trial often had Andrews in tears and she looked jury members in the eye as they entered the courtroom a final time to deliver their decision after seven hours of deliberation. Minutes later, after the verdict was read, she wiped away tears as she hugged and thanked some of them individually. A court staffer brought her a fresh box of tissues while her parents embraced her legal team.

"The support I've received from the people of Nashville has been overwhelming," Andrews said in a statement posted on her Twitter account shortly after the decision. "I would also like to thank my family, friends and legal team. I've been honored by all the support from victims around the world. Their outreach has helped me be able to stand up and hold accountable those whose job it is to protect everyone's safety, security and privacy."

Andrews filed the lawsuit about six years ago against Michael David Barrett, a man who secretly recorded her through an altered peephole in her room at Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt University in September 2008, and the hotel owner and operator.

She also sued Marriott International, but Circuit Judge Hamilton Gayden dismissed claims against the hotel giant in late January, saying that, among other reasons, the franchisor was not responsible for security at a local hotel.

Jurors found Barrett 51 percent at fault in the case, which would mean he would have to pay 51 percent of the $55 million award. The jury said the hotel owner, West End Hotel Partners, and the hotel management company, Windsor Capital Group, also were at fault and were on the hook for the remaining 49 percent.

Mark Chalos, a Nashville attorney who has been analyzing the Andrews case for The Tennessean, said the decision showed "the jury realized that Ms. Andrews is the victim here and that Nashvillians recognize an injustice when they see it."

Andrews had sought as much as $75 million in damages. But Chalos and another expert said the verdict represented a significant victory for Andrews, and a stern warning to the hotel industry.

Attorneys for the hotel argued at trial that Barrett alone was to blame for the videos. Andrews' attorneys argued the hotel staff enabled Barrett by never verifying Barrett's request for a room adjoining Andrews' and by allowing Barrett to find her room.

Chris O'Brien, law professor and associate director of the advocacy institute at the University at Buffalo, said the verdict suggested that Andrews' message resonated.

In an email, O'Brien said the verdict told hotels "that you have to change your procedures."

"It is a very strong argument for people's privacy, and it tells hotels that you have to change the type of information that you give out," he said.

One juror reached by The Tennessean said Andrews’ emotional testimony during the trial was key in deciding the case and understanding the trauma the videos caused. But Terry Applegate, 62, also said jurors considered the message they could send to the hotel industry.

“I’m happy with the result,” Applegate said. “I think it’s important the hotel industry or any public institution that has patrons coming through their doors needs to be aware, and make their security and privacy of utmost concern.”

Hotel groups react

In statements released after the verdict, West End Hotel Partners and Windsor Capital Group said the safety of their guests was a top priority.

"These acts Mr. Barrett committed serve as a reminder to the hotel industry to review safety and security procedures that ensure a first-rate experience to all guests," the statement from West End Hotel Partners read.

Patrick M. Nesbitt, CEO and chairman of Windsor Capital Group, apologized for "the unfortunate experience (Andrews) encountered while she stayed at the Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt."

He said the incident "should serve as a call to action for the entire hotel industry to be diligent in ensuring our guests’ safety and privacy."

Marc Dedman, a lawyer for the hotel operator and owner, told reporters the hotel industry has changed as a result of the case, adding "privacy has been redoubled" by the local hotel owner and management groups, including changes to prevent tampering with peepholes.

Some observers had criticized Dedman's legal team for deciding to question Andrews on her explosive career success after the videos were leaked.

Dedman said it "was not our argument" that Andrews had benefited from the widely circulated videos. Rather, he said, they were seeking to show that Andrews had not suffered "a serious mental injury."

“If you had in fact had a serious mental injury you wouldn’t expect a person to be able to maintain the level of performance that Ms. Andrews did,” Dedman said.

Dedman said he was disappointed with the result, but added that the team had not yet decided if they would appeal the verdict.

The trial

The trial began Feb. 22, and the jury heard seven days of testimony. They heard from hotel executives and front desk staff; from hotel safety experts and a social worker and a psychologist; from a former NFL player who worked with Andrews; from the stalker; and from Andrews and her parents.

Andrews described in two days of testimony how the videos going viral on the Internet in July 2009 turned her into a shell of her former self, and how she has devoted herself to her career as a way to cope and prove she is a professional, not the woman known for the peephole scandal.

The jurors also saw 4 1/2 minutes of video Barrett secretly recorded of Andrews nude in her hotel room on Sept. 4, 2008, while she prepared for a Thursday night Vanderbilt University football game, and a six-second clip he recorded of her in February 2008 at a hotel on Ohio State University's campus. At the time, Andrews worked as a sidelines reporter for ESPN.

Barrett tried to sell the videos to celebrity gossip website TMZ but was turned down. He then posted them online.

Andrews was unaware of the videos until July 2009, when they began spreading around the Internet like wildfire, and on the day she had been auditioning for "Dancing with the Stars." She now works for Fox Sports and co-hosts the dance competition show on ABC.

According to trial testimony, in just six years the videos were watched more than 16.8 million times.

Barrett pleaded guilty to a federal stalking charge in 2009 and served 20 months in prison.

In a brief statement after the verdict, Bruce Broillet, a California attorney on Andrews' legal team, said Andrews "has shown phenomenal courage in standing up for security, safety and privacy."

"She is a true American hero, and I think we all know it and love her for it."