“Most survivors, when they’ve been surveyed about why they file these civil claims, the number one reason is not money: it’s justice, it’s healing, it’s holding wrongdoers accountable.”
Clinical Associate Professor and CEASE Clinic Director Emma Hetherington was recently featured on Atlanta’s 11Alive News regarding a historic verdict in a sex trafficking trial. The trial stems from a lawsuit filed in 2020 by a survivor identified as “J.G.”, alleging she was trafficked as a minor between 2018 and 2019 at the United Inn & Suites on Memorial Drive in Decatur. The lawsuit was filed under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), which allows survivors of trafficking to seek civil damages not only from their abusers, but from third parties – including hotels – that financially benefited from their exploitation. J.G. claims the hotel’s owner, Northbrook Industries, Inc., failed to act despite clear warning signs of sex trafficking, and knowingly profited from her exploitation.
After deliberating for only a few hours, a federal jury found the hotel operator liable, and awarded J.G. a total of $40 million in damages. CEASE Clinic Director Emma Hetherington attended the trial, and spoke with 11Alive News about the significance of this verdict. “To my knowledge, this is the first TVPRA civil claim that has made it all the way to a jury verdict – in the country, not just in Georgia – which makes it very significant,” Hetherington said, further explaining that most of these cases have either settled before they reached a jury, or been dismissed.
Per Hetherington, this verdict could influence how other cases move forward, encouraging earlier settlements or more aggressive legal strategies. It also sends a broader message to hotels that they can and will be held responsible for ignoring obvious signs of trafficking. Most importantly, this verdict “shows survivors that you can be successful in these claims” and provides access to justice for survivors that has otherwise been withheld. “When you see survivor testimony in courtroom, it is a sense of empowerment and healing and justice, just to be heard.”
You can watch the 11Alive segment, Atlanta jury awards human trafficking survivor $40M after finding Decatur hotel enabled sex trafficking, here.