EAST ST. LOUIS – Hotel housekeeper Brandon Billops raped a guest in her room according to a suit Ryan Mahoney of Glen Carbon filed at U. S. district court on March 29.
On behalf of the plaintiff, Mahoney alleged negligence and false imprisonment against Holiday Inn Express of Edwardsville and its manager, General Hotels Corporation of Indianapolis.
He made the same allegations against staffing service Tru-Blue of Tacoma, Washington.
He alleged common law sexual assault against Billops.
Madison County grand jurors indicted Billops on a sexual assault charge in 2021, and he pleaded guilty last year to attempted sexual assault.
Circuit Judge Martin Mengarelli credited the time Billops spent in jail as his sentence and placed him on probation.
Two felony warrants against Billops remained outstanding as of May 4, one on a charge of violating probation and the other on a more recent charge of stealing a vehicle.
He failed to appear at hearings in both cases in February.
Billops resided in East St. Louis in 2021 according to Mahoney’s complaint, and plaintiff Felicity Cook currently resides in Huntsville, Alabama.
Mahoney wrote that Cook was working on a computer at a desk.
He claimed Billops and another employee knocked and asked if they could provide housekeeping services.
He claimed Cook allowed them to enter and went back to her desk.
Mahoney claimed one housekeeper cleaned the bathroom, switched the towels, and left.
He added that Billops remained and asked her if she was married or celibate.
Billops then allegedly stated they wouldn’t mess up the bed because it hadn’t been made.
Mahoney claimed Billops asked, “You got anything for me girl?”
He claimed Billops stood between Cook and the door, grabbed her by the arm, and forced her toward the bed.
He claimed Billops threw her onto the bed and gripped her mouth and jaw very hard.
Mahoney claimed Cook struggled and Billops struck her with his fist, “fracturing her jaw and breaking her rear molar down to the root.”
He claimed Cook kicked and struggled until Billops eventually got off of her and exited the room.
Mahoney added that employees at Holiday Inn Express previously complained of inappropriate conduct and comments from Billops.
He added that defendants knew or should have known he had a particular unfitness for his position creating a danger of harm.
He claimed Cook suffered great bodily injury, severe emotional distress, and mental anguish.
He claimed she experienced embarrassment and humiliation.
Cook also allegedly incurred bills for medical treatment and would incur them in the future.
“She has suffered a loss of enjoyment of a normal life as a consequence of her emotional injuries and has lost her ability to engage in the same kinds of normal activities, all to her damage,” Mahoney wrote.
He claimed she didn’t consent to false imprisonment, harassment, assault, battery and rape.
“Billops intended to commit an unlawful and outrageous touching upon the person of plaintiff without any lawful justification,” Mahoney wrote.
“His actions amounted to willful and wanton misconduct and reckless disregard for the health and safety of plaintiff,” he added.
Attorney Amanda Alasauskas answered the complaint on April 26 for Blue Hospitality, doing business as Holiday Inn Express & Suites.
She claimed Blue Hospitality had no actual or constructive notice of any unsafe conditions.
She added that Blue Hospitality did not control or manage the Edwardsville Holiday Inn at the time of the incident.
The court clerk randomly assigned Magistrate Judge Mark Beatty.
He’ll preside if both sides consent to magistrate jurisdiction.
If they don’t consent, the clerk will assign a district judge.