Minnesota sex trafficking victim files lawsuit against major hotel chain

BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. (FOX 9) - A sex trafficking victim is suing a major hotel chain, alleging that employees of a Brooklyn Center hotel knew about the trafficking but did not take steps to stop it.

The Super 8 by Wyndham in Brooklyn Center is supposed to be a home away from home for travelers. But a new lawsuit claims it was also where a teenager was sexually exploited by a trafficker a decade ago.

The victim, who was 15 at the time, claims from August to December 2013, she was sold for commercial sex acts in a room at the Super 8. She claims the hotel's owners, Wyndham Hotels and Sarah Hospitality, were actually aware of the sex trafficking but did nothing to stop it.

In fact, when police went to investigate, an employee told the officer that hotel records showed a person under 18 was in the room and that hotel personnel believed it to be "prostitution related."

The lawsuit was filed under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, a federal law that prohibits people or entities from knowingly benefiting from a venture they knew or should have known was engaged in trafficking. 

Similar lawsuits against Wyndham and other hotel chains have been filed across the country. Since 2018, Minnesota has had a law requiring hotel workers to be trained on how to spot the signs someone is being bought and sold for sex at their establishment, within 90 days of being hired, and to repeat the training every year.

A spokesperson for Wyndham Hotels told FOX 9 they don't comment on pending litigation.