Family Of Boy Who Swallowed Used Condom Settles

CASPER, WYOMING - A couple whose 2-year-old son allegedly found and swallowed a used condom at a Motel 6 reached a settlement with the company's parent corporation, Accor North America Inc., according to court records.
Terms of the settlement were not disclosed in the settlement report Friday to U.S. District Court in Cheyenne, where a trial had been scheduled to begin May 1.
Attorneys for the family and Accor did not return phone calls Monday or Tuesday, and many records in the case were sealed.
According to available court documents, Hitendra and Falguni Bhakta claimed that their son found the condom after they checked into the Motel 6 in Casper on May 26, 2003.
Hitendra Bhakta -- himself a manager of Motel 6 in the Denver area -- said he tried to pull the used condom from his son's mouth, but it broke and the boy began choking on it. The couple rushed the boy to the hospital, where infectious disease experts said the toddler was at risk for HIV, hepatitis and other communicable diseases.
The boy later tested positive for antibodies for hepatitis B, although there was no sign of the virus in subsequent tests.
Accor North America argued it did not have control over the third parties that caused the damages alleged by the Bhaktas, that it fulfilled its obligations to the couple and did not act recklessly, according to court documents.
The company also claimed any injuries alleged by the Bhaktas were pre-existing.
Bhakta said Motel 6 fired him a month after the incident. The family also said that while the boy didn't seem to have Hepatitis B, the infection would appear on future insurance applications.
from The Casper Star Tribune