Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Baltimore’s Maestra Takes on Marriott Hotels

BALTIMORE (CN) - The failure by hotel giant Marriott to fix a leak in one of its guest bathrooms led the music director of the Baltimore Symphony to suffer a bad fall, she claims in court.

Marin Alsop and her employer, Niram Enterprises, filed the complaint in Baltimore City Circuit Court on Jan. 21 against Marriott International Inc.

The incident occurred the evening of July 1, 2013, about a week into Alsop's stay at the Renaissance Sao Paulo Hotel in Brazil.

Alsop claims to have noticed the leak the night before, placing a towel around what was then "a small amount of water at the base of the toilet in her guest bathroom."

When Alsop reported the defect to Marriott staff on the morning of July 1, before leaving the hotel for the day, "Marriott's staff informed Ms. Aslop that the leak would be promptly repaired," according to the complaint.

"Contrary to their representations to Ms. Aslop, Marriott's staff negligently failed to repair the hazardous condition and, in fact, permitted the small leak to worsen throughout the day until water covered the whole bathroom floor," the action continues.

Alsop says she had "relied on the defendant's representations" and tried to enter the bathroom in her room when she returned later that evening.

As soon as her foot hit the white marble floor, however, Alsop skidded on a "thin, invisible layer of water" that had spread from the toilet, the complaint states.

While the filing does not specify Maestra Alsop's injury, the Baltimore Business Journal reported on July 3, 2013, that she "sprained her wrist" and was forced to cancel appearances with the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra and the Campos de Jordao Festival in Sao Paulo later that month.

The article does not identify the Marriott as the scene of the accident.

Alsop's publicist had told the Business Journal that she intended to see a "specialist" in the U.S., although an MRI revealed no major damage.

Maestra Alsop joined the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 2005, becoming the first woman to lead a major U.S. orchestra. She also serves as the Sao Paulo Symphony's principal conductor.

Paul Bekman, of Salsbury, Clements, Bekman, Marder & Adkins, represents Marin Alsop, who seeks more than $75,000 in damages for negligence.

The Marriott did not return a request for comment.

Categories / Uncategorized

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...