Two musicians have filed a lawsuit accusing a Buckhead hotel of “gross negligence” after a severe storm caused a tent to collapse while they were performing at an outdoor wedding at the venue, leaving them both injured.
The complaint, which was filed in Fulton County State Court on Friday, alleges the St. Regis Atlanta Hotel, its real estate management company, the tent’s owner, and the event coordinator who planned the wedding shirked a tornado watch and wind advisory issued by the National Weather Service that should have been grounds to move the outdoor ceremony inside. Neither the hotel nor the event coordinator have responded to requests for comment on the litigation.
According to the complaint, the wedding took place on Jan. 11, 2020, under a tent on the Grand Terrace of the St. Regis on West Paces Ferry Road. The two women who filed the suit, both of whom are violinists, were hired by the Soiree event company to perform at the outdoor ceremony under an awning owned by Peachtree Tents and Events.
On the day of the ceremony, the NWS issued a severe thunderstorm warning, a wind advisory and a tornado watch for Fulton County that was effective until 9 p.m. The warning came ahead of a storm system with damaging winds that toppled trees and brought down power lines throughout the state.
“At the peak, over 150,000 customers across Georgia had lost electricity,” the NWS said in a statement following the storms. “Additionally, three weak tornadoes occurred within the line of storms in eastern Paulding and western Cobb counties, Fannin County and Upson County, downing more trees, several of which fell onto houses.”
“The defendants collectively had prior knowledge and notice that severe and extreme weather would be affecting the area of Atlanta where the wedding was to take place and at the time the wedding was to take place,” the complaint said. “Severe weather, including high winds and the risk of tornadoes, pose a foreseeable and avoidable risk to an outdoor wedding held under a tent seven stories above ground level.”
Tara Guerard, who owns Soiree, spoke to the hotel’s security director about the severe weather ahead of the wedding, and the parties decided to go forward with the outdoor event, the complaint said. The lawsuit said the companies tried to rush through the wedding before the severe weather struck, “even as the skies darkened, the wind increased, and rain pounded on the tent.”
In a Facebook post, the bride said moments after her father walked her down the aisle, wind ripped the tent to the ground, Channel 2 Action News previously reported. The couple who were being wed that day are not named in the lawsuit.
The tent collapsed on the guests attending the wedding, crushing the musicians under the supporting beams, the complaint said.
Atlanta fire officials previously said “several guests” were injured during the incident. The two musicians were both taken to the hospital, the lawsuit said.
One of the musicians had injuries to her body that totaled more than $20,000 in medical bills, according to the legal filing. The other suffered injuries and property damage of more than $21,000.
The lawsuit said the wedding coordinator and the hotel failed to move the wedding inside and “instead insisted the show must go on.” It also said they had no evacuation plan in place.
The complaint also says the company that owns the tent, Peachtree Tents, “failed to properly erect and install the tents” and did not properly monitor a situation in which severe weather was a factor.
“The defendants had knowledge that there would be severe weather and wind at the location and time of the wedding and made the decision to push forward with the event, thus compromising the safety of Plaintiffs and other invited guests,” the complaint said.
The musicians are asking a court to grant them the full costs of their medical bills, plus the wages the incident has cost them.
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