http://www.khon2.com/news/local/7285446.html (Archive copy)
Bed Bug Victim Sues Las Vegas Hotel
By Andrew Pereira
The parent company of a downtown Las Vegas hotel is being sued by a Honolulu woman who says she was the victim of bed bugs.
The lawsuit against Boyd Gaming Corporation was filed April 26th by Honolulu attorney Eric Seitz on behalf if Jeanine Freitas.
Freitas says she and her husband stayed at the California Hotel and Casino last year on the night August 31st. She claims when she awoke the next morning her body was covered with insect bites.
Freitas and her husband went to a Las Vegas health clinic where doctors told the couple the bites came from bed bugs.
“When they got back to the hotel after going to the health facility they took the mattress off the bed and you could actually observe the bugs crawling around," said Seitz.
Frietas’ husband also suffered bites, but unlike his wife he did not experience an allergic reaction to prescription medicine.
"Although this incident happened in early September she continued to receive medical treatment here in Hawaii through November,” said Seitz.
“This was a prolonged problem because she had an allergic reaction and she had gynecological problems as a consequence of that.”
An official with Boyd Gaming Corporation says what may have happened to Freitas is an isolated incident and does not reflect the cleanliness of the California Hotel and Casino.
A spokesperson with the Southern Nevada Health District told Khon2 Las Vegas hotels take an aggressive stance against bed bug infestations.
"Most of the hotels that we deal with are very proactive,” said spokeswoman Jennifer Sizemore.
“As soon as they get a complaint they start treating it. By the time we're notified they are usually already in the process of looking into it."
Seitz says his client did not want to file a lawsuit but was left little choice after Boyd Gaming officials were hostile to requests for compensation.
"The hotel basically told us to get lost,” said Seitz.
“Until this matter is resolved I would certainly encourage people from Hawaii to think twice about patronizing the California Hotel or other Boyd facilities.”
Sizemore says her agency found one documented complaint of bed bugs against the hotel last year; however she admits not all cases are reported to health officials.
Boyd Gaming says it has not yet received a copy of the lawsuit.
