HOUSTON - A couple assaulted by machete-wielding intruders while vacationing in Mexico are turning to a Texas state court to sue Airbnb.
Vianey Souquette and Ross Lonsdof seemingly gave up hope on their federal lawsuit in San Antonio last year, neglecting to respond to Airbnb's motion to dismiss it. Two weeks after it was tossed, they sued in Harris County District Court on Dec. 20.
U.S. District Judge Jason Pulliam found his court had no jurisdiction over Airbnb, adding "This dismissal does not preclude Plaintiffs from pursuing their claims in a court that has personal jurisdiction over Defendant Airbnb."
Their saga was chronicled in a Yahoo! News article from March 2024, after they had filed their federal lawsuit. At issue is a broken fence at the property they rented in Tulum, Mexico.
Airbnb had declared the property offered for rent by Guillermo Alejandro in 2021 was in a "safe and central area," the lawsuit alleges. It, however, failed to warn that the back door lock and the back fence were broken.
The two contacted Airbnb's Neighborhood Support Team to complain the fence and lock were broken but they didn't receive a response for four days. "At that point, it was too late," the suit says.
On July 20, 2021, assailants entered the property after Souquette had gotten out of the shower. Lonsdof was in the shower at the time.
They climbed over the broken fence then entered the house through the door with the broken lock. They had used a pipe on a surveillance camera.
"The men were armed with machetes, and one of them was carrying the instrument used to disable the surveillance camera," the suit says.
"They violently grabbed Ms. Souquette, ripping off her clothing, and began assaulting her. The assailants grabbed her hair, breasts, buttocks and vagina."
The suit says an object was used to penetrate her vagina and she sustained a broken finger, lacerations, a chipped tooth and bruises. Lonsdof responded to screams but he was nude and greeted by a bear hug while the other assailant swung a machete at him.
He was cut on his leg but wrestled the machete away, the suit says, and he chased the two men out of the property. The married couple were left with post-traumatic stress disorder and severe depression, the suit says, in addition to their physical injuries.
"Plaintiffs reasonably believed that they were making the right choice when they decided to take Airbnb at its word that this property was safe," the suit says. "This assertion created a false sense of security in the minds of Ms. Souquette and Mr. Lonsdof.
"Ms. Souquette and Mr. Lonsdof would soon come to realize that they were intentionally misled by Airbnb."
The suit blames Airbnb for failing to respond to their security concerns.
"It was Airbnb's duty to either repair the fence and the locks on both doors or relocate Plaintiffs to a new rental or hotel that did not pose the same security risk," the suit says. "Airbnb failed to do so."
In filing in Houston state court, the couple say it has jurisdiction over Airbnb and Alejandro because the company transacts substantial business in Texas and the entered into the rental contract while they were in Texas.
Dominique Calhoun of Calhoun Meredith in Houston represents the plaintiffs.