KING COUNTY, Wash. — Motel 6 and three of its locations in King County are facing a federal lawsuit for allegedly knowing sex trafficking was happening on the premises and profiting from it.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Tacoma by a Bothell woman who was trafficked for years at these locations. The woman who’s going by M.K. in court documents recently escaped her trafficker and is taking on the major motel chain. Documents show she endured violence and threats.
“We're fighting against a number of players who had knowledge of the sex trafficking that was occurring, and they chose to do nothing about it,” said Katie Llamas, counsel for Singleton Schriber, who filed the lawsuit.
The federal lawsuit is against Motel 6, its parent company, the individual hotels, and others claiming they knew she was being trafficked.
The lawsuit also names a software company "Salesforce" claiming it helped facilitate trafficking and Backpage, a website that no longer exists but the suit said is where M.K. was advertised on when she was first trafficked in 2015.
The lawsuit states the woman was trafficked from 2015-2023 at three Motel 6 properties in King County, all of them in SeaTac.
Documents state the employees at the locations knew what was happening and even had a business relationship with M.K.’s trafficker.
“They knew what was going on," Llamas said. "They knew it wasn't consensual prostitution. They knew it was trafficking, and that she was being trafficked specifically, and they didn't do anything to help."
The lawsuit is filed under the Trafficking Victims Reauthorization Act, which is a federal statute that allows survivors to sue businesses that knew or should have known trafficking was happening at their place of business and profited off it.
“These big hotel chains, they know what's going on in their hotels, the parent companies know what's going on in their individual hotels, and they're doing nothing about it,” Llamas said.
Other survivors around the country have filed similar suits in recent years, including one in California and Texas.
The lawsuit cites a Los Angeles Motel 6 property its parent company G6 Hospitality paid to settle a public nuisance lawsuit related to such trafficking filed by the City of Los Angeles.
“We're seeing more and more of them because more people are willing to take a stand for what's going on, and more people are realizing what's going on,” Llamas said.
A spokesperson for G6 Hospitality, the parent company of Motel 6 said in a statement, “There is nothing more important to us than the safety and well-being of our guests, our team members, and the communities in which we operate. We condemn all forms of human trafficking and have a zero-tolerance policy against it. Trafficking of people violates basic human rights and is a global societal problem.”
The spokesperson said Motel 6 has instituted programs to fight against human trafficking like implementing awareness, training, and response programs within local communities its franchisees serve.
“I've seen multiple instances where a pimp has been very violent with someone outside of a hotel, and hotel staff will even walk by and just ignore it,” said Audrey Baedke, Co-founder of REST and director of its training and partnerships.
Real Escape from the Sex Trade known as REST is a local organization that helps trafficking survivors once they’ve escaped their trafficker.
Baedke said a trained staff that would act could help save a life.
“One thing that survivors will often say is that people saw what was happening, and no one cared enough to do anything about it,” Baedke said.
Baedke said statistics showed 90% of people who are selling sexual services have done so because of a trafficker.
Baedke said while sex trafficking often happens in hotels and motels, it’s a crime that’s hiding in plain sight across King County.
“It's one of those things that once you know it exists, you start to see it everywhere. I have driven to many places with survivors before and they've said I met with a buyer there. That's a brothel there. That's a track right there. It's all over in every neighborhood, in every community,” Baedke said.
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