Three human trafficking victims in Houston are attempting to go after the major hotel operators Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Choice Hotels International and Wyndham Hotels and Resorts in a suit alleging the companies do not do enough to prevent human trafficking at franchisee properties.
The plaintiffs allege that Franchisees of the major hotel chain owners either ignore signs of sex trafficking on their properties, the Texas Standard reported.
“The approach of this lawsuit is that sex trafficking is a public health crisis,” says Gabrielle Banks, a federal courts reporter for the Houston Chronicle, “and that all the businesses that facilitate [sex trafficking] should be held accountable, including the upper echelons of the companies that own these little franchises.”
The lack of company-wide anti-trafficking policies makes it easier for incidents to be overlooked by franchisees, the lawsuits allege. The plaintiffs also allege that hotel chains lack safe and secure means for reporting suspected sex trafficking.
The plaintiffs accuse the parent companies of being “nefarious enablers.”
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