Settlement Reached in Suit Stemming From Man Dying Of Carbon Monoxide at Best Western Hotel

Best Western has settled a federal lawsuit filed by the family of a man who died from carbon monoxide poisoning in one of the chain’s hotels in Upper Macungie Township, Pa.
http://www.newyorkinjurynews.com/2010/03/29/pa-hotel-reaches-settlement-over-carbon-monoxide-death_201003292981.html

The terms of the settlement weren’t disclosed.

Philip Prechtel, a 63-year-old South Carolina man, died during his January 2008 visit to the Best Western. His family filed suit against Best Western and two contractors that July.

A makeshift canopy had been set up on the side of the Best Western Allentown Inn and Suits during a renovation, and that tent-like structure captured carbon monoxide gas that seeped into several hotel rooms.

The gases had been released by three 80-gallon, bas-powered water heaters.

The family had sought a minimum of $350,000 in damages for wrongful death and negligence against the defendants, which included KMD Hospitality Corp. of Allentown, Pa., which owns the Best Western; Martin Plastering Contractors of Terre Hill and Advanced Building Systems of Reading.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration in March 2008 fined Martin Plastering $2,300 for failing to teach its employees about identifying carbon monoxide hazards and failing to detect the carbon monoxide hazard that killed Prechtel and sent several others to the hospital.