NEW ORLEANS – A Georgia woman says she was sexually assaulted by a janitor in her hotel room.
Akari Kenney filed her complaint May 14 in federal court against Jefferson Cordova, HRIP Holdings LLC, HRI Lodging LLC, GAB Janitorial LLC and KC Janitorial Services LLC.
HrIP and HRI own and operate The Pelham Hotel in New Orleans
According to the complaint, Kenney was a gust at The Pelham Hotel on June 12, 2024. She says she went to the lobby and requested more towels sent to her room, and she was told housekeeping staff would deliver them to her room.
Shortly after returning to her room, Kenney says a member of the housekeeping staff knocked on the door. The woman was wearing a housekeeping uniform but did not have any such equipment nor towels. The woman did not speak English, and she eventually walked away.
About 10 minutes later, there was another knock on Kenney’s door. She says a man wearing all black with a red lanyard was at the door. She said she had seen the man earlier in the elevator because “he was staring at her, and it made her uncomfortable.”
That man was Cordova. He was employed by KC Janitorial Services and GAB Janitorial, and he worked at The Pelham as a janitor.
He asked Kenney if she had any dirty towels, and he entered her room and collected the dirty towels. He left and returned minutes later with clean towels, she says.
“Cordova returned to plaintiff’s room and began to proposition her,” the complaint states. “He told her he wanted to stay in her room and ‘chill with (her).’ Plaintiff asked him why, to which he replied that he was bored. He then asked plaintiff to close the door to her hotel room, but she refused and continued to stand by the door. Plaintiff expressed that she did not want him to stay and told him to leave her room.
“As defendant Cordova exited the room, he groped plaintiff’s buttocks and then slid his hand down, over her pants, and touched her vagina without her consent. Plaintiff immediately closed the door and messaged her friend that she was scared to leave her room.”
Kenney says her friend arrived a short time later, and they went down to the lobby to explain what had happened. The hotel staff changed Kenney’s room.
“When plaintiff arrived at her new room, defendant Cordova, who had just assaulted her, was standing at the maintenance closet on that floor despite the concierge’s assurance that he would be sent home,” the complaint states.
Kenney says she asked to stay at a different HRI hotel, but the hotel company did not offer to cover those expenses. Kenney says she was unable to pay for the costs associated with changing hotels.
She says she called police and filed a report against Cordova for sexual battery, and she says a warrant has been issued for Cordova’s arrest.
The complaint says the New Orleans Police Department had received at least 10 calls in the year prior to Kenney’s incident for complaints at the hotel. One incident occurred June 26, 2023, involving threats and harassment. Cordova was arrested two days later, but he remained employed at the hotel.
Kenney says she has been severely traumatized by the incident, and she says she suffers from anxiety and depression. She says she has been seeing a therapist since August.
As a self-employed business owner, Kenney says she has struggled to fulfill orders, substantially diminishing her livelihood. She says she used to love travel, but now she says she is unable to travel now because she is terrified of staying in hotels and feels vulnerable to another attack.
Kenney accuses the defendants of negligence, innkeeper liability, premises liability, failure to properly hire, failure to properly supervise, failure to properly retain, assault and respondeat superior.
She seeks actual damages, compensatory damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, court costs, attorney fees, expert fees and other relief.
Kenney is being represented by Philip Bohrer and Scott Brady of Bohrer Brady in Baton Rouge as well as by Jay D. Ellwanger and Brian Pounds of Ellwanger Henderson in Austin, Texas.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana case number 2:25-cv-00956