The case study discusses an incident involving Jessica Bristol, who was assaulted by her husband after he deceitfully gained access to her motel room using false identification. The desk clerk's failure to verify permission from Jessica before allowing Mr. Bristol entry raised issues of negligence and violation of Jessica's privacy. The document suggests improvements for motel management to ensure guest safety and confidentiality, such as requiring explicit permission before allowing others into guests' rooms.

1. Submitted by: Sukhdeep Kaur (160967188)
Submitted to: Amanda Shuen
Case Study - ID Fraud
Case
Jessica Bristol and her two young children checked into room 104 of the Travel-In motel at
9:00 P.M. on Friday night. She produced a credit card issued in her name as a form of payment
and requested that she be given the room for two nights.
On Saturday afternoon, a man identifying himself as Preston Bristol, Mrs. Bristol’s husband
presented himself at the front desk and asked for the key that she was supposed to have left for
him at the front desk. He stated that he was joining his wife and children at the motel; they were
visiting relatives, but he had had to work the day before.
The desk clerk replied that no key had been left and proceeded to call the room to inform Mrs.
Bristol that her husband was at the front desk. There was no answer in the room.
Mr. Bristol then produced his driver’s license for the desk clerk, which had the same address that
Mrs. Bristol had used on her registration card. Mr. Bristol also produced a credit card issued in
his name with the same account number as that used by Mrs. Bristol at check-in. As the clerk
perused the license and credit card, Mr. Bristol offhandedly referred to a picture in his wallet of
Mrs. Bristol and his two children. Based on the positive identification, the clerk issued Mr.
Bristol a key to Mrs. Bristol’s room.
At approximately 6:00 P.M. on Saturday, a guest in room 105 called the front desk to complain
about a loud argument in room 104, Mrs. Bristol’s room. The desk clerk called room 104 but got
no answer.

2. The clerk then called the local police. When they arrived, they found Mrs. Bristol badly beaten
and her children missing. A description of Mr. Bristol’s car quickly led to his arrest and the
recovery of the children by the police.
Mrs. Bristol recovered from her injuries and completed the divorce proceedings she had begun
against her husband. In addition, she filed assault and battery charges against him. She also sued
the motel’s manager, owner, and Franchise Company for $8 million, stating that the motel was negligent
and had violated her right to privacy. The motel’s position was that it acted reasonably to ensure Mr.
Bristol’s identity and that it was not an insurer of guest safety and could not have foreseen Mr. Bristol’s
actions.
Case Solved
Issues
Did Motel violate the privacy and held liable for the negligence by permitting the Jessica's
husband to enter her room without her permission?
Did Motel perform the reasonable duty of care by allowing Jessica’s husband to enter her room
by merely basing on his id cards?
Can Motel held liable for vicarious liability & standard duty of care?
Did the desk Clerk acted in a reasonable manner?
From the incident above, according to me, the desk clerk didn’t act in a reasonable manner. We
cannot give entry to anyone based on documents only. The desk clerk called the Jessica’s room
but she didn’t pick her phone. The desk clerk didn’t waited enough and made a quick decision by
seeing the documents.
Jessica didn’t inform the desk clerk about the arrival of her husband and by letting him enter to
her room the motel violate the privacy of the Jessica.

3. Hotel cannot be held liable for Vicarious Liability because the incident was not foreseeable and
motel didn’t suspect any danger when he entered. However, Motel did not perform the
reasonable duty of care towards the safety of their guest and has to be held liable for negligence
by providing the confidential information about Jessica to her husband without her permission.
Did Mr. Bristol have a right to enter the room? Why or why not?
Mr. Bristol has the right to enter the room if Jessica informed the desk clerk about his visit. But
in this case she didn’t inform anything about this to desk clerk. Mr. Bristol played the fraud by
presenting the documents prior to their filing for divorce.
In this case he entered the room by presenting the misleading information to the desk clerk. The
desk clerk believed him because the documents were true however; he didn’t inform about the
divorce. By those documents he entered the room and abused her wife both mentally and
physically.
According to me Mr. Bristol was not having any right to enter the room without the Jessica’s
permission. According to law motels are not required to provide the confidential information
about their guests to any other person without the permission of their clients.
In this case, after calling to Jessica’s room and knowing that she is not picking the call, the desk
agent has to request the client to wait for 5-10 minutes in the lobby. Instead of allowing him to
the room based on his documents, she has to first seek the permission from Jessica to allow him
to her room.
What does management do in future to avoid such incidents?
 Management should seek permission from clients before allowing someone to their
rooms even if they are closed one’s.

4.  Management should include a policy in which clients inform the motel about the guest
visits prior to their visit. This will ensure the safety of motel and clients.
 Management should not allow anyone to invade into someone’s privacy by giving them
entrance merely based on their documents.
 Management should not provide any confidential data like- room number, floor number
or keys to anyone without their client’s permission.