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Corbett accepted evidence from Abdulhak that he woke up with itchy and painful rashes on multiple parts of his body on the morning of May 5 and 6, 2019
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The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise is located in Lake Louise, Alta., Approximately 180 kilometers west of Calgary, Alta on Thursday October 13, 2016. Photo by Lyle Aspinall / Postmedia Network
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It’s enough to make your skin crawl.
An Edmonton attorney was awarded nearly $ 24,000 in damages after being repeatedly bitten by bed bugs while staying at posh Chateau Lake Louise, west of Calgary.
Small claims judge Sandra Corbett ruled in a written decision that the resort is liable for both physical and mental injuries sustained by Omar Abdulhak while staying at the quaint mountain hotel in May 2019.
Corbett accepted evidence from Abdulhak that he woke up with itchy and painful rashes on multiple parts of his body on the morning of May 5 and 6, 2019.
After checking out on May 7th, he visited his family doctor, Dr. Aarif Pathan, the following day after a staff member suggested he might have been bitten by bed bugs.
“Omar testified that the itching continued and the swelling was still there,” Corbett wrote.
“He testified that Dr. Pathan examined the markings on his chest, stomach, shoulder area and chest and told him that ‘those places were bed bug bites,'” the judge said, noting that the testimony was by one Report from the doctor who was issued in the study.
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Evidence requested on behalf of the resort showed that due to Abdulhak’s complaint, the room was being inspected for pests on the day he checked out.
“As no evidence of bed bug activity was found. . . The hotel room has been put back into operation, ”said Corbett.
“The hotel room was then occupied by at least one guest for six separate stays between May 10 and 20, 2019, and the CLL did not receive any bed bug complaints from any of those stays.”
However, the judge found that an earlier inspection by the same company found no evidence, even though a guest found a bug after the tests.
She also said that just because other complaints were not received, it did not mean that “bed bugs were not in Omar’s room while he was at the hotel.”
“I determine, considering the odds, that Omar was bitten by bed bugs while in the CLL.”
Corbett further noted that the hotel had reasonable predictability of the risk to Abdulhak if it was bitten by bed bugs.
“CLL corporate representative (David) Barbour testified that bed bugs are a ‘hospitality reality’. The CLL admitted that there had been bed bugs in both their hotel rooms and staff residences in the past. “
The judge found that the hotel had not taken enough steps to ensure its guests were not at risk of bed bug bites.
Corbett awarded Abdulhak $ 15,000 in general damages for his physical and mental ailment, including nightmares of insects crawling on his chest and stomach.
She also ordered Fairmont Hotels Inc. to pay him $ 8,475 for lost wages and $ 400 for psychological treatment.
KMartin@postmedia.com
Twitter: @KMartinCourts
