Legal News

Monkey Business at Miami Hotel Leads to Lawsuit

By Dan Slater

The lead to the following report in the Miami Herald, sent along by a loyal reader, speaks for itself.

A two-month old black-handed spider monkey is held in the arms of its mother at the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, June 16, 2007. (AP/Itsuo Inouye)

“There’s no doubt some guests at the Hampton Inn Miami Airport West behaved like animals during their stay four years ago,” begins the story. “They had an excuse, though — being lemurs, a spider monkey, an alligator and a parrot.”

The traveling zoo exhibition, reports the Herald, lies at the heart of a lawsuit by a maid who cleaned rooms rented by the animals’ handlers in 2004. Arlin Valdez-Castillo blames chronic medical problems on exposure to bird feces, monkey dander and other alleged hazards from the exotic guests. Here’s the amended complaint she filed in 2006.

We know what you’re thinking. Why were the animal handlers staying at the Hampton Inn? According to court documents, the dispute arose when Busch Gardens booked a South Florida publicity trip for a new park. It hired the traveling Wildlife on Wheels animal troupe run by Conservation Ambassadors, a California-based nonprofit. To that end, Maya the spider monkey, Bob the alligator, Tango the Macaw and lemurs Zuri and Rufio were loaded into containers and flown from California to Miami on an American Airlines flight.

The defense lawyers for Busch Gardens, reports the Herald, are asking U.S. District Judge Shelby Highsmith to throw out the case partly based on court precedents that animal owners face liability only if their charges attack (such as a dog bite) rather than simply perform natural functions (such as spider monkey droppings).

”Plantiff’s alleged allergic reaction was not due to the dangerous propensities of the wild animals,” attorneys for Busch Gardens, which hired the animals for a local publicity tour, wrote in a motion. “Rather, the allergic reaction was due to Plaintiff’s own immune system.”

Lawyers submitted as evidence a Busch Gardens manual for traveling with animals. Among the tips: Book a room near an ice machine when on the road with penguins and always put the ”Do Not Disturb” sign on the door when leaving an animal alone in a hotel room.

Representatives for the Hampton Inn and Busch Gardens declined to comment. Alan Landsberg, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer representing Conservation Ambassadors, said: “We believe the plaintiff has no case.”

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on September 24, 2008 (boomark / email).