A Fort Lauderdale hotel used by Southwest Airlines for flight attendant work layover is suing the carrier for more than $215,000 in damages after a crew member allegedly caused extensive water damage to the property when the sprinkler system was activated.
According to a lawsuit filed against Southwest by the Renaissance Hotel, located on 17th Street, Fort Lauderdale, the female flight attendant allegedly “negligently interfered” with the fire sprinkler system in her hotel room during a layover.
The sprinkler system was activated, not only in the crew member’s room, but also in multiple other hotel rooms. The flight attendant is a named defendant in the case, but the lawsuit argues that Southwest is liable for the negligent acts of its employees.
The incident occurred on February 1, 2025, leading to the hotel having to cancel reservations across multiple rooms while it called in restoration experts to dry out, sanitize, and deodorize the affected rooms.
Along with a number of hotel rooms, the sprinkler system also flooded some communal areas of the hotel, the front desk area, and several office rooms.
In total, the hotel was charged $215,576 to repair the damage from the flood.
In its lawsuit, the hotel says it has retained an independent fire sprinkler expert who will testify that the sprinkler system didn’t malfunction and was activated due to the negligent actions of the flight attendant.
The hotel originally filed its suit in a local court, but Southwest has since moved to have it transferred to a Florida district court due to the sums involved in the claim.
Southwest Airlines has filed some paperwork in the Fort Lauderdale district court but redacted its own internal report into the incident, as well as a statement written by the flight attendant.
The carrier is yet to formally respond to the lawsuit.
In 2023, a Southwest Airlines flight attendant was arrested on suspicion of attacking hotel guests and firefighters with a toilet plunger during a late-night rampage at a crew layover hotel in Des Moines, Iowa.
The crew member was also accused of tripping fire alarms around the hotel and of partially flooding the hotel by breaking a sprinkler system nozzle in one of the maintenance rooms.
A number of guests reported that the crew member had been “chasing people” around the hotel with a toilet plunger. One victim said she had been evacuating the hotel via the stairwell after the fire alarm went off when she came across the flight attendant on the 18th floor.
The suspect is alleged to have chased after the victim while holding the plunger, shouting: “I’m going to f**king get you”. The victim managed to escape uninjured, according to a police report.
The crew member was later charged with disorderly conduct, criminal mischief and assault while displaying a dangerous weapon.
Why would Southwest be responsible for an employee’s behavior when they’re off duty? Is the Renaissance Hotel saying they would also be financially responsible for damages caused by one of their off-duty employees??
because Southwest arranged and paid for the room so that their employee had a place to stay on the layover for work the next morning
Sprinkler systems dont normally and key word normally dont go off like that. If 1 head fails or is tripped that head and that head only will flow. Not multiple rooms or heads. A deluge system which would flow every head when triggered, are usually found in industrial settings, not hotel rooms. A hotel may be a dry system, where air is put into the system, and used to keep a valve closed until the air is released but again, on the head affected will disperse the air then water. There’s something else going on with that hotel. Not a single negligent act. And BTW, I was a state certified fire officer, and credentials as a fire inspector. I have more then a passing knowledge of sprinkler and alarm systems.
see there rare a bunch of so called ‘experts’ here – If you have to openly put out there that you are ‘state certified’ then I serious doubt you are. Maybe in your mind you are, but on the internet that means NOTHING
Sprinkler systems are only supposed to activate where the fires is not everywhere on the same floor or other rooms. Something doesn’t add up…..
wrong – if they are networked together, then yes they will affect other areas