How to Ruin a Wedding

CHARLESTON, S.C. (CN) - An angry bride claims in court that her wedding at a Charleston hotel was ruined by a hotel guest who insisted on waving his bare butt and genitals at her and her guests during the ceremony.

Anna Rogers Murphy sued City Market Hotel Associates in the Charleston County Court of Common Pleas court, claiming the operators of the Double Tree Hotel & Suites in Charleston's historic district had an obligation to ensure her nuptials were not disrupted by other guests.

Rogers Murphy says she spent a year planning her March 9, 2013 wedding, during which time she and her co-plaintiffs, Clay and Carol Rogers, repeatedly asked whether the hotel could provide appropriate control and security for an event in its courtyard, an area overlooked by several guest rooms.

"Before the agreement was signed, defendant LLC assured plaintiffs that the courtyard would be an appropriate location for the wedding ceremony and that the ceremony would not be disrupted by hotel guests not in attendance," the plaintiffs say in the complaint.

Reassured, the plaintiffs paid the hotel $15,000 and proceeded with wedding preparations.

Little did they know that a man identified in the complaint as Samuel James Dengal had not been made aware of the agreement. On the day of the wedding, the plaintiffs say, Dengal rented a room overlooking the courtyard.

"While the wedding ceremony was in progress, plaintiffs observed Dengal standing at the window of his hotel room without clothing. Thereafter, while the ceremony was still in progress, Dengal exposed his genitals and buttocks to everyone in attendance," the plaintiffs say.

Dengal's conduct, they say, "was so extreme and outrageous as to exceed all possible bounds of decency and must be regarded as utterly atrocious and intolerable in a civilized community."

Indeed, they say, "The emotional distress endured by the plaintiffs was so severe that no reasonable person could be expected to endure it."

Dengal is not a party to the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs seek actual and punitive damages for negligence and emotional distress.

They are represented by John Massalon of Wills Massalon & Allen LLC in Charleston.

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