Actress Connie Flores and her husband Alvin are suing Princess Cruises, alleging that their stateroom was infested with bed bugs during a recent cruise from Los Angeles to Mexico.
The lawsuit was filed on the couple’s behalf by My Bed Bug Lawyer, a Los Angeles-based law firm specializing in bed bug litigation, according to a press release published on Wednesday.
Flores, who recently appeared in the Netflix film Marriage Story, claims she suffered bites that were so severe she had to go to the hospital.
“Imagine yourself on a cruise at sea with your stateroom infested with bed bugs. There was nowhere to go. We were trapped. We felt helpless. There were bed bugs coming out of the pillows and the mattress, we felt betrayed,” Flores said in a statement.
According to My Bed Bug Lawyer’s founder, Brian Virag, Flores’ husband remains traumatized by the entire ordeal.
“The emotional suffering, however, continues to be the bigger nightmare for our clients. They continue to relive waking up in the middle of the night imagining bed bugs sucking the blood from their body as they slept,” said Virag.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Federal Court in Los Angeles, alleges that the cruise ship knew or should have known of the bed bug infestation and failed to protect its passengers from physical and emotional harm. It also argues that the cruise ship’s policies and procedures were inadequate in maintaining the safety of their guests.
Approximately one in every five Americans has either experienced or knows someone who has experienced bed bugs, according to Virag. Last year, experts warned of a new strain of insecticide-resistant bed bugs.
