A civil lawsuit filed against a Fort Worth hotel is highlighting what the plaintiffs’ attorney calls a “public safety issue” that “happens all the time” in the hotel industry.
Two female plaintiffs are suing the Fairfield Inn & Suites Fort Worth Downtown/Convention Center for more than $1 million in damages, alleging that the negligence of the hotel’s front desk agent led to the sexual assault of one of the women in March 2024.
The lawsuit, filed in October 2024 in Dallas County by plaintiffs J.E. and L.T., names MCR Investors, LLC, M2 Fort Worth Downtown Tenant, LLC, M2 Fort Worth Downtown, LLC, MCR Fund II Property Management, LLC, and an unnamed employee as defendants.
It alleges that “As a result of the intrusion into Plaintiffs’ hotel room and the sexual assault of [plaintiff] which was facilitated by Hotel Defendants’ negligence — Plaintiffs have each suffered severe mental anguish, emotional distress, and psychological trauma.”
Attorney Anna Greenberg, representing the women, shared surveillance video on social media, claiming it shows a prevalent issue in the hotel industry.
“We recently did a TikTok video where we were talking about this case, and we were showing what happened on the video surveillance footage because, really, my clients and I both feel like this is a public safety issue,” Greenberg said, per NBC 5 DFW.
According to the lawsuit, the women, who were staying at the hotel on a work trip, briefly spoke with a man who claimed to be homeless while they were outside the hotel.
“He told them that he had been living in the streets, and they kind of felt sorry for him, so they spoke with him briefly before going back to their hotel room,” Greenberg said.
J.E. went to sleep, while L.T., preparing to shower, heard banging on their door and saw the same man through the peephole.
“Confused and concerned as to how this man found their room, L.T. backed away from the door — believing there was no way for him to get inside,” the lawsuit states.
The surveillance video, posted on social media and not including audio, shows the alleged intruder stopping by the front desk. The employee allegedly shared the women’s room number with the man, who falsely claimed to be the husband of “the redhead.”
When the plaintiffs did not open the door, the man returned to the front desk.
“The front desk agent then escorts this complete stranger to the room of these young women and uses her master key to let him right into the room. You don’t see any knocking, you don’t see her calling out to the young women to make sure that it’s okay to let this strange man into their hotel room in the middle of the night, ” Greenberg narrates in the video. “She simply opens the door using her key and then walks away.”
A lock audit, to be submitted by the plaintiffs, is purportedly intended to confirm the employee’s use of the master key.
“That’s when this man comes in, climbs into bed with my client, and sexually assaults her,” Greenberg said in the video.
L.T., in the bathroom, heard the door open and peered out. “Terrified, she closed the bathroom door” and, minutes later, found the intruder “in bed sexually assaulting” J.E., according to the lawsuit documents.
The video shows L.T. running to the front desk, purportedly yelling, “Why is there a random guy in our room?” The suspect then fled, and he remains at large, according to Greenberg.
The lawsuit accuses the hotel of failing to check the intruder’s ID, verify whether he was a registered guest, notify the women of the access request, and adequately hire and train staff.
“My clients were safe inside their hotel room, and they would have stayed that way if the front desk agent had just followed a very basic hotel security rule,” Greenberg said, per NBC 5.
“You may think that this is a really shocking event or a one-off, but I am here to tell you that, sadly, this happens all the time,” Greenberg said in the video. “I have represented several women who have had very similar experiences at hotels where men who they do not know have obtained a key to their room from gullible, poorly-trained front desk agents.”
“Hotel staff needs to be trained to understand this basic safety rule and actually follow it, and we plan on sending a loud and clear message to the hotel industry that this is not okay, and that we see what’s happening, and they need to fix it,” Greenberg added.
MCR filed a denial in June 2024, rejecting liability for the incident.
The firm’s attorney, Lisa Massey, told NBC 5, “We do not discuss pending litigation.”
Fort Worth police said the investigation is ongoing, with no one in custody. Both sides have requested a jury trial, set for October 2025, with depositions scheduled for July.