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Suit: Drunk Marriott Employee Sexually Assaulted Sleeping Guest

SCHAUMBURG (CBS) - A woman claiming she was sexually assaulted by an intoxicated northwest suburban hotel waiter who used a master key to enter her room while she slept has filed a lawsuit against the hotel.

Katherine Olson claims Marriott hotel employee Mauricio Rodriguez used a universal hotel card to break into her room and sexually assault her April 23, 2010, at the Marriot Schaumburg at 50 N. Martingale Rd. in Schaumburg, according to a suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court.

The suit claims Olson was a guest at the hotel when employee Rodriguez became intoxicated and used a hotel master key to enter her room without her permission while she slept late April 22 or early April 23. Police say Rodriguez had delivered a meal to her room earlier.

Mauricio Rodriguez
Mauricio Rodriguez (Schaumburg Police Department)

Later, when he gained access to the room while she was sleeping, Rodriguez removed his clothing and sexually assaulted the hotel guest, according to the suit.

"I woke up out of a deep sleep and there was a gentleman on top of me, naked," the plaintiff, a Virginia resident, told CBS 2's Mike Parker. "I was frightened, started screaming, flipped out, jumped up, pushed him off me and ran out."

When police got there, they say Rodriguez was drunk, passed out on the bed and now wearing his pants, which were on backward. After the incident, Rodriguez pleaded guilty to a lesser assault charge and served 60 days in Cook County Jail.  

The two-count suit claims Marriott International Inc. failed to provide adequate security, allowed employees with access to master keys to become intoxicated, served employees excess amounts of alcohol and allowed employees access to master keys after their shifts.

"It is known to all hotel operators and hotel corporations that criminals will circle hotels almost like sharks in the water," the plaintiff's attorney, Chris Hurley, says. "They know they have to protect people from this kind of behavior."

Hurley says his client's sense of security will never be the same.

She agrees, saying, "I've had some nightmares and flashbacks."

Olson is seeking more than $100,000 plus the cost of the suit.

Marriott officials did not respond to CBS 2's request for comment.

Contributing: Sun-Times Media Wire

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