Berger Singerman Files Lawsuit against Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne Resort for Disclosing Guest’s Confidential Information

MIAMI--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--The law firm of Berger Singerman has filed a lawsuit (Case # 12-01595CA24) on behalf Rebecca Illingworth against Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne Resort for disclosing confidential information of Illingworth, who had been a guest at the resort in March 2011.

Illingworth and her minor son stayed at the Key Biscayne Ritz-Carlton during the Sony Ericsson Tennis Tournament in Key Biscayne running from March 21-24, 2011. The lawsuit contends that Illingworth’s former husband contacted Marriott Hotels, the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne’s parent company, and obtained a copy of Illingworth’s and her minor child’s billing folio. According to court documents her former husband used the information in a pending custody dispute.

The Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne’s reservation policy states that the Ritz-Carlton, and its parent, Marriott Hotels, do not permit the sale or transfer of personally identifiable information to entities outside the Marriott family of companies and hotels.

According to Illingworth, “I am astounded that my personal information was released. But I’m also concerned that this violation of my rights and safety risk could occur with other Marriott and Ritz-Carlton guests—perhaps even without their knowledge of such actions. This is a travesty and a situation that any hotel guest should be aware of—particularly those staying at the Marriott family of hotels. It is my hope that this lawsuit ensures that the Marriott family of hotels does not allow this to ever happen again.”

According to Berger Singerman, Marriott denies providing Illingworth’s information, which included her home address and all charges associated with her stay. However, her former husband, whose last name differs from that of Illingworth and was not utilized in conjunction with the reservation, was able to obtain a complete copy of the Marriott daily and detailed folio for Illingworth’s stay. Its generation date, April 7, 2011, is the same date the Marriott telephone logs reflect receiving the call from her former husband, according to Berger Singerman.