Owner of Virginia Hotel Settles Fall Lawsuit for $10.9M

The owner of a hotel in Norfolk will pay nearly $11 million to settle a lawsuit over a toddler’s fall from a walkway.

Chelsye Clayton’s lawsuit against Pride Group Inc. had sought $50 million in damages.

The lawsuit says Clayton’s son, Elijah Clayton, fell through an opening in a railway on a second-floor walkway at the company’s Ramada hotel. The boy suffered permanent brain injuries. He was 2 years old at the time of the accident on Sept. 4, 2011.

The Virginian-Pilot reports that nearly $4 million of the $10.9 million settlement will be used to pay attorneys’ fees and unpaid medical bills. The remainder will be paid to the boy through a special trust and a payment plan.

A Norfolk Circuit Court judge approved the settlement last month.