Faulty Shower Blamed: Indian American Motel Owner Faces $2 Million Payout in Guest's Death

July 19 :
A lawsuit has ordered the motel's Indian-American owner to pay over $2 million to the deceased's family after a 76-year-old man died from third-degree burns sustained in a scalding shower at a Kentucky motel. The case filed in Kenton County states that Alex Chronis took the fatal shower at an Econo Lodge in Erlanger, Kentucky, operated by Sanjay Patel, on November 19, 2021. Located about 10 miles southwest of Cincinnati's downtown, Erlanger lies close to the Ohio and Kentucky borders.

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Chronis, a food vendor from Tennessee, was in Kentucky on business and was staying with two coworkers. "At the very first moment of entering the shower that morning, Chronis was "almost instantly blasted with searing hot water," as recounted in the lawsuit.

He was unable to get out of the tub after falling due to the abrupt agony and shock. Caught in the relentless flow of water that was 150°F, Chronis could do nothing but yell out for rescue. At last, his colleagues came racing in to save him. His skin was severely burned and blistered, according to the lawsuit, and substantial harm had already taken place.

Seven months passed after the tragedy, during which Chronis lived. During that time, he was hospitalized multiple times before his death on June 19, 2022. According to court records, Chronis' family sued the motel's owner, Aspyn LLC, and operator, Sanjay Patel, in the same year.

A jury determined that Patel was negligent in "not exercising ordinary care in inspecting and maintaining their hotel rooms in a reasonably safe condition," which resulted in Chronis' injuries, according to a verdict filed on July 3, 2024. Medical costs, burial costs, agony and suffering, and punitive damages totaled $2,037,545 that the jury handed down to Chronis's family. They said Patel did so carelessly, with total contempt for other people's rights, lives, and safety.

While the lawsuit did not specify what caused the water to boil, it did state that the water had been "failure to provide functioning faucets/fixtures... and valves." Water at 150 degrees can cause third-degree burns in most individuals in as little as two seconds, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Lower temperatures, such as 140, 130, or even 120 degrees, can cause similar injuries with longer exposure times.