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Drunk Teacher Died Sliding Down Bannister at Hilton Palmer House Chicago; Parents Sue for $500,000.

Strange, but true that a 23-year-old special education teacher attended a Halloween party at the Hilton Palmer House Hotel in Chicago October 30, 2010 and died after falling four floors while trying to slide down a bannister.

The parents of Megan Duskey filed a lawsuit Tuesday, July 24, 2012 in Cook County seeking $500,000 in compensation against Hilton Worldwide, the Palmer House and the party event organizers Surreal Chicago and Adrenaline Y2K. The lawsuit claims negligence on the part of the hotel and event organizers for allowing up to 2,000 guests with event tickets to drink unlimited alcohol during the Halloween party.

Turns out I was at the Palmer House Hilton the week before this tragic accident in 2010 and I snapped a photo of the deadly Palmer House interior stairway bannister.

image

It never occurred to me to try and slide down the hotel bannister for fun.

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The Lobby – Palmer House Hilton Hotel, Chicago.

The Daily Mail has more story details.

Loyalty Traveler original post link: http://loyaltytraveler.boardingarea.com/2012/07/27/drunk-teacher-died-sliding-down-bannister-at-hilton-palmer-house-chicago-parents-sue-for-500000/

Ric Garrido, writer and content owner of Loyalty Traveler, shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests. You can follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter and Facebook and RSS feed.

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17 Comments

  • Mike July 27, 2012

    Those parents are pathetic. Suing because their son was a retard that slid down a banister. Wow

  • Victor July 27, 2012

    Darwin Award?

  • Up&Away July 27, 2012

    Funny that the parents want to hold others responsible for allowing her to have alcohol. Isn’t she responsible for actually drinking it? #personalresponsibility

  • Mark July 27, 2012

    “It never occurred to me to try and slide down the hotel bannister for fun.”

    I don’t know why anyone would think this is at all a good idea. The worst is they are suing because the event company didn’t monitor the party enough. Do they really expect an event company to act like babysitters?

  • Ford July 27, 2012

    Parents are loathsome for not accepting their son was an idiot and letting the issue rest. Maybe the hotel should offer to settle and host a party for them with an open bar…see how far the apple fell from its tree.

  • ORD-TGU July 27, 2012

    Very tragic, but worthy of a darwin award.

  • guest July 27, 2012

    She was hot! Hot, not too bright and drunk. The holy trinity.

  • Ari July 27, 2012

    The deceased made a poor choice. The lawsuit is frivolous. Some of these comments are heartless and sadden me.

  • snuggliestbear July 27, 2012

    I agree with most of the commenters – the teacher made a dumb mistake and it ended up costing her her life. Would the parents have still sued Hilton if their daughter had drank a ton in the privacy of her own room and then tried to slide down the bannister and died? My guess would be yes because the parents seem to be looking for a pay day. And the saddest thing? They will probably get it.

  • Rich A July 27, 2012

    Why is it when someone does something REAL stupid, it’s always someone else’s fault? Ah yes, the hotel is responsible because there were no signs posted everywhere stating that sliding down its bannisters could result in injury or death! Sounds to me this teacher needed to be a student in special ed.

  • Curtis July 27, 2012

    Wow, that is a really steep banister… Sad. Lawsuit is pretty ridiculous. Need to just let go that it was an accident after a very poor decision and move on. She was there 30 minutes. I can drink a lot in 30 minutes but the party would have to be completely out of hand to allow that much alcohol to be served to her in that short of an amount of time and then become belligerent enough to go try to do attempt this and then blame.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2178961/Family-woman-23-fell-death-sliding-banister-Halloween-party-file-500-000-lawsuit-luxury-hotel-venue-event-hosts.html

  • Jfadds July 27, 2012

    Hope hilton fights this to the end and countersues for court costs

  • LufthansaFlyer July 27, 2012

    Can’t sue for victim stupidity. Hilton should threaten a counter-suit to pre-empt such a frivilious claim 2 years after the fact.

  • Michael W Travels July 27, 2012

    This is a pathetic lawsuit. I feel bad the girl passed away but something is wrong with the parents feeling they have the right to sue.

  • Denny July 27, 2012

    Did the girl’s parents let her slide down their banister growing up, teaching her such things were ok to do?

    I don’t see how this is anyone’s fault but the girl for making a drunken mistake.

  • boilers July 28, 2012

    I am unsure but could it be as simple as they need the money to recover funeral and perhaps more importantly student loan expenses if they were a cosigner? I am unsure if a 23 year old teacher would have had life insurance to cover her debts. Sadly it may be a sign of times more than a reflection on the parents.

  • Charles Clarke July 31, 2012

    @boilers – AFAIK, student loans are forgiven on the death of the person who was a student. You may be right that they spent more than they can afford on the funeral, etc. That doesn’t make it the responsibility of the event holders or the hotel to make sure no one does anything fatally stupid.

    It is a tragedy, but it is pathetic that they are trying to turn the loss of their daughter into a payday.

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