Motel in Kentucky must pay $2 million after fatal scalded shower incident

CNN
—

A jury has awarded $2 million to the estate of a man who died months after suffering “scalding and severe burns” from water from the shower in his Kentucky motel room, according to a lawsuit.

Alex Chronis, then 76, suffered third-degree burns to his body at the Econo Lodge in Erlanger, Kentucky, which ultimately led to his “premature and wrongful death” on June 19, 2022, according to the complaint filed by Chronis’ niece.

On November 19, 2021, Chronis attempted to take a shower but was “almost immediately bombarded with scalding hot water, knocking him to the floor of the shower pan where the water further scalded him,” the complaint states.

Two Chronis employees rushed to his aid after hearing him fall and scream, the complaint says.

The shower delivered water at an “extremely high temperature,” the complaint said. The temperature was more than 150 degrees, according to Chronis family attorney N. Jeffrey Blankenship. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, most adults will suffer third-degree burns if exposed to 150-degree water for two seconds.

Chronis, a grocery store clerk who traveled around the Cincinnati area for work, initially took over-the-counter medication for his burns before working at a local festival, according to Blankenship. He went to a nearby hospital but left to return to work, Blankenship added.

Two days later, Chronis returned to the hospital for a skin graft and remained there for nearly five months, the complaint states.

In April 2022, Chronis was transferred to a rehabilitation facility in his hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee, Blankenship said. He spent months in the hospital after the incident, undergoing numerous medical procedures and enduring “significant conscious pain and suffering” before ultimately dying from his injuries on June 19, 2022, according to the complaint.

According to the court order and verdict, the jury found that motel owner Sanjay Patel “failed to exercise ordinary care in inspecting the hotel rooms and maintaining them in a reasonably safe condition for use by guests.”

According to the Kentucky Secretary of State’s website, Patel owns Aspyn, LLC, which operates the Econo Lodge in Erlanger, which was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

The verdict, filed July 3, awarded Chronis’ estate nearly $1.3 million to cover medical expenses, $250,000 for pain and suffering, more than $16,000 for funeral expenses and $500,000 in punitive damages.

CNN has contacted Patel’s attorney, Lindsay Rump, for comment.