Flea problems on pets are uncommon in Colorado. Fleas reproduce poorly in the low humidity of homes.
Most flea problems originate from fox or skunks that den in the vicinity of homes.

Plague is a potentially life threatening disease that is moved among wild rodent populations by fleas—primarily the rock squirrel flea

So unless Ms Kobayashi has a skunk or fox as a pet it is highly unlikely that she received her bites from her other pets. I am sure she is not a expert on these types She may be incorrect on the types of fleas in colorado but it is obvious that the originating source would be the hotel

Some fun facts I learned: it can take up to 9 days for bites to show and a relatively large percentage of the population does not get the huge red welts that are generally associated with bedbug bites. I slept on a king-size bed with my friend. When we woke up in the morning, I had just a few welts on my leg and my friend was seemingly bite-free. My friend still seems fine, but two days later, I am seeing more and more hive-like welts appear on my skin, even though we only slept in the infested room on the first night. I actually saw one of the bedbugs and was able to get it in a plastic bag to show to the hotel’s management, so there’s no question that the bites were caused by bedbugs in our case.

It is extremely difficult to get rid of a bedbug infestation – they can live for up to two years without feeding and are not affected by most pesticides. It can also be difficult to determine whether there is an infestation, particularly if the bugs are not just staying in the typical creases of the mattress. My sister’s pest control guy told her that one of his repeat clients kept having bedbug problems in every apartment that he moved to. It turned out that the bedbugs had created a nest in the guy’s CD player, so they were re-infesting every new home he lived in. Scary thought!

Looking at bedbug suit case law, she has a decent chance of being successful in court – probably not for punitive damages, but reimbursement for the money she’s out is not out of the question. Cases supporting large punitive payouts seem to be only where the hotel knows about the ongoing problem and chooses to ignore it – as in Mathias v. Accor Economy Lodging, Inc., 347 F.3d 672 (7th Cir. 2003).

I’ve been the victim of bed bugs, and within a day of sleeping in a bed that was infested I had over 150 bites, so I’m having a hard time with her “three” bites. These guys are NASTY and don’t just stop after a small nibble.

Stay somewhere else. There are a lot of nice places in Estes Park that are a lot cheaper and that are run more competently.

Admitedly I do not practice bed bug litigation and hope never to. However, your legal analysis is problematic

Do you know for a fact that a doctor cannot establish when she was first bitten. I doubt that you are correct basically because establishing timelines is the meat and potatoes of forensic medicine. As far as no one else in the party being bitten, we do not know the sleeping arrangements or type of clothing worn by other members of the party.

You are confusing civil with criminal matters. In a civil case, all she has to prove is that its more likely than not that the bed bugs came from the hotel. She does not have to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt or to a scientific or medical certainty.

As far as the level of infestation, without hard numbers, e.g. how many bugs were brought back, we cannot say whether the level of infestation was reasonably caused by the hotel trip.

@David Z

Good question. You are thinking about negligence in which case you would be correct. However, businesses are held to a higher standard of strict scrutiny, which means that the business is liable for any reasonably foreseeable harm caused by the use of its goods and servives. Fault on the part of the business is not required.

They should have at the very least offered her a slight credit or refund on her room, which if they know ANYTHING about business, is a small small price to pay to avoid a very costly negative word-of-mouth or media campaign.

But obviously Cullen is a jack-A$$, and wants to lose as much business over this as possible, as does their owning corp that didn’t respond.

I mean hello, they know Chris is a reporter / columnist, that their reply will be widely seen and in the known published reply they are still rude to the customer? They deserve to go out of business and hopefully someone smarter and better will buy the Stanley.

A businesst is responsible for any reasonably foreseable harm that results from the use of its goods and services even if the business is not negligent.

But what if the business indeed took reasonable steps to prevent any possibly foreseeable harm that time? From Chris’ article, it seems Ms. Kobayashi notified the hotel what happened after they checked out rather than during their stay. (or at least that’s what the hotel said…)

Then again, you did say fairly easy case. :) Who knows?

Second, a doctor can NOT tell when you were first bitten, especially if you don’t go for almost 2 weeks after your supposed first incident.

Third, she mentions 3 bites on the 14th… but no new bites on the 15th when she was checking out??? And no one else in her party was bit??? Must not have been very hungry bed bugs ;-)

Unless she can show that she, her family and pets have NEVER been outside of her house except for the once in a lifetime trip to that hotel… she doesn’t have a leg to stand on in court. I would suggest she check with her household insurance to cover the cost of the exterminations and furniture.

As for bedbugs …. I got nailed on an upscale cruise ship after I requested different pillows from our steward.

Secondly, she needs to establish the timeline of the first set of bites. Again, a note from a medical professional would establish when she was first bitten by the bedbugs.

Negligence is not an issue. A businesst is responsible for any reasonably foreseable harm that results from the use of its goods and services even if the business is not negligent.

Then she gets her damages which would be at least the medical bills. A court may or may not give her the replacement couches. That would depend on the specifics.