Leaving a guest's room number by a phone display cost a Nashville hotel management group and its owner some $27 million.
A small price to pay for giving Erin Andrews a bit of peace of mind.
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A Nashville jury awarded the former ESPN and current Fox Sports broadcaster $55 million in damages against her stalker, Michael David Barrett, hotel owner West End Hotel Partners and the hotel management company Windsor Capitol Group over an illegal nude video made in 2008 of Andrews' stay at a Nashville Marriott," USA Today Sports reported.
Marriott was dismissed from the suit in January, according to the report.
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Barrett discovered the room assigned to Andrews, requested the room next door and made a video showing a nude Andrews in her room, using an altered door peephole, The Tennessean reported.
Barrett, who served 20 months in prison for stalking the television personality, is responsible for 51 percent of the damages -- roughly $28 million. The hotel groups are responsible for the other $27 million.
Andrews had been seeking $75 million in damages.
"I would like to thank the Nashville court, the court personnel and the jury for their service," Andrews said in a statement she posted on Twitter via USA Today Sports. "The support I've received from the people of Nashville has been overwhelming. I would also like to thank my family, friends and legal team. I've been honored by all the support from victims around the world. Their outreach has helped me be able to stand up and hold accountable those whose job it is to protect everyone's safety, security and privacy."
Barrett claimed sole responsibility for the incident, saying he discovered her room number by a hotel phone display and then asked for the room next to hers.
But Andrews' attorney, Bruce Broillet, argued that the hotel should be liable "because of reservation documents that show he requested a room next door," The Tennessean reported. "Broillet said that even if Barrett used a staff-only phone, as he says he did, the hotel should still be liable because it allowed him access to that phone."
Lawyers for the hotel management and owner had not reached a decision whether to appear, USA Today Sports reported. But their argument in court that Andrews profited from the nude videos put the hotel groups in a bad light.
ESPN also came off poorly after Andrews revealed the Worldwide Leader In Sports required her to give a sit-down interview attesting that the video was not a publicity stunt before it allowed her back on the air.
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