"The facts of the case showed that InTown was blatantly ignoring the safety of its customers and employees," Ogden said. "You had a hotel where the office and its employees, including the manager, had been robbed four times at gunpoint in the six months leading up to the victims' attack. The manager was begging the corporate office for a security guard to protect the guests and employees of the hotel, and he was turned down."[clarionledger.com]

It would be interesting to see whether not having the S/O was a cost effective decision or not. Of course, the most likely fundamental problem was that the vics weren't ready to go when the time came. Their not being ready may have been a function of the legal environment but still, there's something perverse about suing a business for ALSO not being ready to go ...