A jury of five men and seven women decided on Monday to award Erin Andrews $55 million in her lawsuit over a 2008 peeping Tom video of the sportscaster shot at a Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt University.According to reporter Jesse Knutson, the jury found that the hotel operator, owner and Michael Barrett, the man who shot the videos, all partially responsible.
The jury declared Barrett 51 percent liable, so he is on the hook for more than $28 million. The hotel's ownership group was found 49 percent liable, so they will have to pay more than $26 million.
Andrews had filed a lawsuit for $75 million against the franchise owner of the Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt University, as well as Barrett, who, in September 2008, shot the videos of her getting undressed through a hotel room peephole. She believed the hotel was negligent in allowing Barrett to select a room directly next to hers without notification.
In May 2011, Barrett was sentenced to 30 months in prison for stalking and for shooting the videos.
Andrews was brought to tears a number of times during court proceedings. During her testimony earlier in the week, the 37-year-old spoke about the toll the videos took on her psychologically, mentioning that she still switches rooms upon arriving at hotels and checks for "booby traps" and recording devices. At one point, the defense even insinuated that the nude videos helped Andrews' career.
On the fourth day of the trial, a computer expert estimated that the nude videos of Andrews had been seen about 17 million times since July 2009.