Yesterday, ESPN reporter Erin Andrews filed a lawsuit against seven hotels, including Marriott International Inc., for unintentionally assisting a Chicago man in taking secret videos of her while she was staying at these hotels.  Andrews claims that Michael David Barrett then uploaded the unauthorized videos to the internet and distributed them for public viewing.  She has also filed for negligence on the part of the hotels that gave out her personal information to Barrett.

Andrews’ job requires that she travel frequently and stay in many different hotels, and she only found out about this shocking chain of events on July 16, 2009, nearly a year after she had been videotaped by Barrett.  When she realized that she had been recorded without her knowledge or permission and that the videos had been released online, Andrews took her case to the Circuit Court of Cook County, also alleging suffering from humiliation and emotional distress.

According to Andrews’ story, Barrett secretly tracked down the reporter after she checked into hotels in three cities across the country.  She claims that Barrett called up the hotels each time asking if Andrews had made reservations, and not only did the hotels disclose that she was staying there, but they gave out her room number and agreed to book a room for Barrett directly beside hers.  Once he had checked in, Barrett supposedly altered the peephole in Andrews’ room and without permission, filmed her changing clothes and relaxing privately in her own room.

Barrett later admitted to filming Andrews on two separate occasions, once in February 2008 in Columbus, Ohio and then seven months later in Nashville, Tennessee.  In addition, the prosecution accused him of calling up fourteen different hotels during this time period and asking about Ms. Andrews’ whereabouts.  He is also suspected of sharing the videos online and then trying to sell them last year to TMZ, a celebrity gossip site based in Los Angeles.

“Although I’ll never be able to fully erase the impact that this invasion of privacy has had upon me and my family,” Andrews said in a written statement, “I do hope that my experience will cause the hospitality industry to be more vigilant in protecting its guests from the time they reserve a hotel room until they check out.”  None of the seven hotels returned calls or requests seeking comments, and Andrews has not received any kind of public apology from them.

Currently, Erin Andrews is bringing her lawsuit for $1.2 million against both Michael Barrett and the hotels responsible for allowing this grave invasion of privacy.  48-year-old Barrett, who admitted to making the tapes, was sentenced in March to a prison term of 27 months and he is now required to register as a sex offender.  Marriott International Inc. and the other hotels that disclosed Ms. Andrews’ private information without permission will also be held accountable for her complaints of “severe and permanent emotional distress” resulting from negligence.