A Fort Lauderdale hotel is suing Southwest Airlines and one of its flight attendants, alleging the employee set off a sprinkler system in a guest room and caused extensive flooding that forced the property to cancel reservations and bring in cleanup crews.
According to a lawsuit entered in federal court April 8, 17th Street Hotel LLC, which does business as the Renaissance Hotel Fort Lauderdale, says the incident happened on or about Feb. 1, 2025, while a Southwest flight attendant was staying at the hotel for work. The complaint alleges the attendant “negligently interfered” with a fire sprinkler in the room, even though the hotel had a sign warning guests not to tamper with the system.
The lawsuit says the sprinkler discharged and flooded not only the room occupied by the flight attendant, but multiple other rooms in the hotel. The hotel claims it suffered damages including repair costs, remediation, loss of use and lost profits.
The hotel further alleges it inspected the sprinkler after the incident and found no malfunction, concluding that the discharge was caused by tampering.
Fort Lauderdale’s Renaissance Hotel is suing Southwest Airlines, alleging a flight attendant triggered a fire sprinkler that flooded multiple rooms, canceled reservations and caused nearly $217,000 in damage. (AP Photo/Matt York, FILE)
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In the suit, the hotel accuses the flight attendant, identified as Jade Tsougas, of negligence. It also seeks to hold Southwest Airlines responsible, alleging Tsougas was acting within the course and scope of her employment because she was staying at the hotel as part of her work assignment. The complaint also alleges Southwest was independently negligent by failing to properly instruct or supervise its employee.
The hotel says the flooding disrupted operations, caused canceled reservations and required outside crews for cleanup. It is seeking nearly $217,000 in damages, according to the filing.
Southwest, through an attorney, filed a notice of appearance in the case in March, according to court records included in the federal filing.
A case management conference in the underlying Broward County case was scheduled for June 2, court records show.
