An airline pilot staying at a Marriott affiliated hotel was reportedly attacked by a swarm of bats while sleeping in his hotel room. The hotel didn’t even offer to let him move rooms, and he has spent over $100K on rabies shots, according to a lawsuit. Wow…
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Bats swarm room at Sheraton Denver, bite pilot
An airline pilot from California is suing Marriott over an incident that happened at the Sheraton Denver Downtown back on August 29, 2025, where he was staying during training. While the airline he works for isn’t named, it’s pretty clear he works for United, given that this is where the company’s pilot training center is, and that’s a hotel the airline uses for training.
Anyway, the 46-year-old man was sleeping in his room on the 22nd floor, when he suddenly woke up at around 2:30AM to “commotion.” As his lawyer explained, “imagine you’re sleeping in a hotel room and you wake up and you see bats flying around, that’s scary.”
The pilot immediately notified the hotel, and maintenance staff were sent, who removed the bats, but didn’t offer to relocate him to another room, according to the lawsuit. He noticed there was a hole in the room’s air conditioning unit, “which appeared to provide access for the bats to enter the room,” causing him to shove a towel in there to close that opening.
He eventually fell asleep again, only to wake up in the morning and still see a single bat in the room, near the top of the curtains by the window. Animal control was called in to remove the last bat, and the workers reportedly informed the pilot that several of the bats in the area had tested positive for rabies, and they advised him to get treated immediately.
The pilot later discovered that he had been bitten on his foot, so he got a series of rabies shots, with total medical bills coming out to over $100K. The pilot was terrified of getting rabies, and feared for his life.
Following the incident, the pilot had trouble sleeping in hotel rooms, which became a big issue for his job, given that pilots constantly stay overnight at hotels.
The pilot initially engaged in settlement talks with Marriott, the parent company of Sheraton, but the claim is that they offered him a small sum to “go away,” claiming that these kinds of things happen, and that no one is at fault.
So then the pilot filed a proper lawsuit, requesting compensation for his medical bills and for the trauma. As the lawyer explained:
“We believe the evidence will show that this incident was preventable and that the hotel’s response fell well below what any guest should expect. No one should have to worry about being exposed to bats while sleeping in a hotel room.”
“We attempted for months to resolve this matter before filing suit. Despite providing medical records, photographs, and other supporting evidence, Marriott’s settlement offers did not reflect the seriousness of the incident or the harm suffered by my client. As a result, we had no choice but to file this lawsuit.”
I have so many questions about this incident & lawsuit
As I see it, there are two topics here — the initial incident, and then everything that happened after the fact, from the treatment to the lawsuit.
My goodness, the thought of bats swarming a hotel room is something that’s going to give me nightmares, as it’s not even a fear I had considered… and here I was thinking that I was safe as long as I checked under the bed for monsters!
Seriously though… I get that stuff happens, but… how?! How could that even happen? I certainly wonder if the pilot asked to move rooms, but regardless of whether or not he did, how did the hotel not immediately relocate him? Was this truly an isolated incident that only happened this one time, or was this a recurring issue at the hotel? This seems absolutely bonkers.
It’s hard to imagine any world in which the hotel’s handling of this wasn’t completely unacceptable. They didn’t remove all the bats? They didn’t patch up the hole that likely allowed the bats to enter? They didn’t insist he move rooms? They didn’t immediately call animal control the first time around?
That being said, regarding the treatment, why would rabies shots cost $100K? Based on a quick search, it looks like they should cost thousands of dollars at most (more like $5K or so), rather than $100K, so what am I missing there? And would the airline not cover that kind of treatment, since he was on the job?
I have to say, this absolutely seems to me like a case where suing for negligence and trauma seems appropriate. If you’re staying in a hotel, you should expect that they’ll do everything in their power to prevent you from being bitten by bats while sleeping. Regardless of how preventable the situation was in the first place, the response here was nothing short of unacceptable.
Bottom line
A United Airlines pilot staying at the Sheraton Denver Downtown had his hotel room invaded by bats in the middle of the night while sleeping. He immediately let the hotel know, and they claimed to address the issue. However, he woke up hours later, only to find that there was still a bat in the room, and that he had been bitten in the foot.
He claims he racked up over $100K in medical bills because of this, including for rabies shots. He’s now suing Marriott, after the company refused to settle in a reasonable way.
What do you make of this bizarre Sheraton Denver pilot bat situation?
Regarding cost: in most places in the US you have to go to the ER to have this done. In the hospital I worked at they would have you come back to the ER for each subsequent treatment (it’s multiple treatments). The cost still seems somewhat high to me but the amount that they would have put in the lawsuit is undoubtedly the “sticker price” (that super high price that is on the initial bill that is then greatly reduced by your insurance company)
For all the non-lawyers commenting, the 100k has more to do with proving damages (although the medical care may well have cost that much in the US, depending how it was obtained). But in any US lawsuit, to get money as compensation, you have to show damages, and the best way to do that is through high medical bills. Therefore, it's better for a plaintiff to go the most expensive route to get treatment. In...
For all the non-lawyers commenting, the 100k has more to do with proving damages (although the medical care may well have cost that much in the US, depending how it was obtained). But in any US lawsuit, to get money as compensation, you have to show damages, and the best way to do that is through high medical bills. Therefore, it's better for a plaintiff to go the most expensive route to get treatment. In reality, a plaintiff who has suffered a bat attack due to the hotel's negligence (leaving a hole in the A/C) shouldn't have to rack up a big medical bill in order to get substantial compensation for an outrageous incident like this, but that's just the way American tort law works.
Pilot is justified without doubt . Pilot's employer is being a cheap-charlie . It is not excusable to stiff an employee regarding the mayhem of a swarm of bats and their bites .
What if it was a swarm of snakes , buffalos , or piranas ?
He turns into Batman.
Something here doesn't add up. It sounds like maybe this pilot had made the terrible decision to opt out of the United Airlines corporate medical insurance policy so that he wouldn't have to pay premiums, and is now paying for it, so to speak.
I've had a bat encounter and went through the full rabies vaccine series - was totally covered under my Blue Cross policy as medically necessary.
Nah, let’s not insert plausible deniability here. Defending Marriott, or obfuscating their liabilities, by blaming the victim here, is sad.
@1990
Not intending to defend Marriott- they should be held responsible for their negligence.
The high cost is likely due to the pilot needing rabies shots plus rabies immunoglobulin injections. When someone actually gets bitten, the wound area needs to be infiltrated with the rabies immunoglobulin, which is expensive. Also, the rabies shots is a series of 4-5 shots, depending on if the person is immunocompromised. Sometimes people get their initial and follow up shots at an Emergency Room, as doctor's offices might not regularly have the vaccine in...
The high cost is likely due to the pilot needing rabies shots plus rabies immunoglobulin injections. When someone actually gets bitten, the wound area needs to be infiltrated with the rabies immunoglobulin, which is expensive. Also, the rabies shots is a series of 4-5 shots, depending on if the person is immunocompromised. Sometimes people get their initial and follow up shots at an Emergency Room, as doctor's offices might not regularly have the vaccine in stock. The need for the Immunoglobulin and repeated ED visits for follow up shots are likely the reason for the $100k cost. I to work in an Emergency Department as a pharmacist and this is the typical treatment protocol for rabies exposure.
Going to an emergency room for cancer treatment shouldn’t cost $100k, let alone some basic rabies shots. American Healthcare is broken.
"American Healthcare is broken."
Indeed. There was recently an article about Scott Kirby referring to the US as "the greatest country in the world", but I can't see how a country with that healthcare system could ever be considered for this title.
For comparison - I recently needed a course of rabies injections (both immunoglobulin and intramuscular shots). The cost was 160 USD all in.
Jenny is correct. Rabies exposure shots are completely different than a rabies prevention vaccine .I had to get mine through the health department. The good news ; I no longer fear bats!
For all readers living outside USA, the most shocking fact (?) here is the dollar amount. The idea that rabies protocol could cost a person more than $300 out of pocket is absurd. Common drugs, minimal expert attention, easy availability at all healthcare facilities. In Canada a visit to a walk-in clinic would deal with a rabies concern and the bite(s) in about an hour, for zero dollars and zero cents. Absurd.
Plus, if he's...
For all readers living outside USA, the most shocking fact (?) here is the dollar amount. The idea that rabies protocol could cost a person more than $300 out of pocket is absurd. Common drugs, minimal expert attention, easy availability at all healthcare facilities. In Canada a visit to a walk-in clinic would deal with a rabies concern and the bite(s) in about an hour, for zero dollars and zero cents. Absurd.
Plus, if he's a pilot he's got a healthcare plan, which covers it all.
I have the same questions Ben has, and more. Story fails smell test.
In this day and age in the USA, people try and sue over quite literally anything. This is a lawsuit that is actually acceptable. How horrific of Marriott for the handling of this situation. Rabies shots are no joke either.
Maybe, some of that money was for therapy. I know, that the very real fear of dying from an uncurable disease, would mess with anyones head. Marriott is 100% at fault.