Hilton settles guests' mold suit

[Guest guest]

Hilton settles guests' mold suit

http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2005/12/19/daily58.htm

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Pacific Business News (Honolulu) - 3:34 PM HST Friday

Hilton Hotels Corp. will pay $1.832 million to guests who stayed in

the Kalia Tower at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa at

the time the tower was infested with mold.

The tentative settlement of the class-action suit was announced by

two Honolulu law firms, Levin Livingston Grande and Price

Okamoto Himeno & Lum, which represented guests who stayed in the

newly opened Kalia Tower from June 14 through July 23, 2002.

" We're certainly grateful we were able to negotiate something that

gives value back to the class members, " said Grande, a

partner of the law firm Levin Livingston Grande firm. " We are

very satisfied with the settlement results. "

Under the terms of the settlement, guests can take either $150 in

travel coupons or $50 cash for each night's stay. Approximately

2,900 guests are covered by the settlement.

Kalia Tower was closed for 14 months after mold was found in some of

the rooms, the apparent result of faults in the air conditioning

system.

The 315-room tower reopened in September 2003. Hilton placed the

cost of repairs and lost room revenue at $55 million and sued the

architects and contractors who worked on the project.

The settlement, which was given preliminary approval by First

Circuit Judge McKenna, does not include attorneys' fees,

which will be decided at a later settlement hearing.

No one from Hilton Hawaiian Village responded to requests for

comment Friday afternoon.