There is an interesting torts case brewing in Los Angeles where guests at the Cecil Hotel drank and bathed from a rooftop water tank that appears to have had a decomposing body in it for two weeks. The body of Elisa Lam was found after a worker investigated the cause for low water pressure at the hotel.
Guests have complained that the drinking water tasted bad and that their showers have a foul color and smell.
It is not clear how the 21-year-old Canadian ended up in the tank. There are four cisterns on the hotel roof.
I recall a similar event in Chicago with a restaurant decades ago where patrons drank water for an extended period before a body was discovered in a rooftop water tank.
Some guests at the Cecil hotel reported having black water come out of the shower before it would clear up.
The hotel is looking at serious liability. First there is the woman herself. It is not clear how a guest gained access to the roof or why a water source for the hotel would be accessible and not secured. Then there are the guests. This would seem to offer a solid basis for negligence and the negligent infliction of emotional distress. It could also be the basis for intentional infliction of emotional distress since reckless conduct can be substitute for classic intent. Clearly there are health risks but even greater emotional and psychological harm for guests.
The hotel advertises itself as an “affordable” hotel for “spend-thrifty travelers.” The hotel is only recommended by half of the visitors and has only 2 stars in rankings of hotels. The allegation of having guests drink and shower in corpse-saturated water is not likely to improve that standing.
Source: CNN
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Sounds like a “Bones” episode.
The good advice of Professor Tom Lehrer still applies:
Yup! Dark Water. That was it.
The film: Dark Water
It seems to me I saw this in a movie once…
Deborah, Agreed! Dry wit is my favorite type of humor.
Professor Turley, are you perchance part British?
“The hotel…has only 2 stars in rankings of hotels. The allegation of having guests drink and shower in corpse-saturated water is not likely to improve that standing.” #DryWitRulesTheWaves
Enjoy your stay at the luxurious Cecil Hotel. Now serving complimentery “Eau de Mort”
This hotel has a checkered history. People residing there just happen to wind up dead! I read this story the other day and I was surprised that we haven’t had some filings against the hotel as of yet. A lot of negligence, but I am not sure what the damages would be if they were not sickened by the “tainted” water.
Now we know how millions of other species feel about us.
The Soylent Green Water Bottling Company can’t be far behind.
I drink bottled water when we travel. And I am a dog.
I suppose that’s why the Chicago water system had a bad taste… Then again…. Are you sure this hotel is not located off mollholland drive…
The roof is only accessable through locked doors
The present participle “brewing” is appropriately descriptive in this instance.
This would leave a bad taste in my mouth in perpetuity.