Background: The Quality Inn in Branson, Mo. where the plaintiffs stayed (Google Maps). Inset: A screenshot of the toy leash from the viral Facebook post that sparked the lawsuit (KSPR).
A hotel employee in Missouri and her employer are being sued after she posted a photo of a toy leash on social media — and claimed that the leash was a sex toy.
A married couple who stayed at a Quality Inn in Branson filed a lawsuit on March 6 accusing that hotel employee of defamation. The post, which was shared with a popular local Facebook group, included a photo of what the employee called a “torture toy” and an accusation that the couple allegedly “thrashed” and stole from the hotel room.
In the post, the hotel worker also referred to one of the guests by name, which the couple claimed ruined their reputations.
The “toy” in question was, in fact, a toy — it was part of a souvenir from Branson’s Wild World, a nearby amusement park. The original toy was a stuffed dinosaur with a leash attached, as if the dinosaur was a household pet. In the lawsuit, the couple said that their 9-year-old daughter took the leash off the dinosaur and left it behind when they left the hotel.
The walking dinosaur toy that included the leash in question (image from lawsuit).
The employee, who works in the hotel’s housekeeping department, posted a photo of the leash on the WTF Springfield Facebook group, which has more than 100,000 followers. The post in question appeared to have been taken down, according to reporting by KSPR, a local ABC affiliate. The lawsuit included a screenshot of the post, which included the following text:
If anyone knows [father’s name], tell him he left his cock and ball torture toy in the hotel room he thrashed in Branson last night. Pic of said toy attached …
EDIT: I’m not upset that they did kinky s— in a hotel room. I’m pissed cause they thrashed it and stole pretty much everything that they could carry. This EXACT reason is why the rest of Springfield and surrounding areas have to pay a [deposit] to stay in Branson.
The lawsuit stated that the employee had “perceived” the leash to be a “BDSM riding crop.” The suit also alleged that she “repeatedly made accusations” that the couple made off with “several blankets,” a hair dryer, and a power strip from behind the television. However, she never formally reported any theft to the police, and the couple denied taking anything from the room.
In the lawsuit, the couple claimed that their reputations have suffered since the post made the rounds, saying that more than 200 people had viewed or commented on the post after it was shared. The suit stated that the post “suggest[ed]” that the father “perform[ed] deviant acts on his own children” and “committed a crime of theft.” The post, the lawsuit claimed, caused the father to lose his job. The mother reportedly had a job offer rescinded. Their children have also reportedly suffered after being questioned about the post by their classmates. According to the lawsuit, the entire family has suffered “severe emotional distress.”
The couple retained Mark Edward Blankenship Jr. as their attorney, who told KSPR that they are seeking a jury trial and $1 million in damages. Law&Crime reached out to Choice Hotels for a comment and was told, “We do not comment on ongoing litigation” and stated that the Quality Inn in question “is a franchised property and is independently owned and operated.”
A hotel employee at that Quality Inn told Law&Crime that they were instructed not to comment.
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