Doe v. G6 Hospitality LLC

CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Washington
DecidedApril 22, 2025
Docket2:24-cv-01235
StatusUnknown

This text of Doe v. G6 Hospitality LLC (Doe v. G6 Hospitality LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Doe v. G6 Hospitality LLC, (W.D. Wash. 2025).

Opinion

5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 7

8 JANE DOE, CASE NO. 2:24-cv-01235-RSL 9 Plaintiff, v. 10 ORDER GRANTING IN PART THE G6 DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO 11 G6 HOSPITALITY, LLC, et al., DISMISS

12 Defendants. 13

14 This matter comes before the Court on a “Rule 12(b)(6) Motion to Dismiss 15 Plaintiff’s Complaint” filed by defendants G6 Hospitality, LLC, G6 Hospitality IP, LLC, 16 G6 Hospitality Property, LLC, G6 Hospitality Purchasing, LLC, and G6 Hospitality 17 18 Franchising, LLC (collectively, “the G6 defendants”). Dkt. # 31. Plaintiff alleges that the 19 G6 defendants harbored her at one of their franchised properties, Studio 6 in Mountlake 20 Terrace, Washington, 1 knowing that she was being forced to engage in commercial sex 21 and benefited from their participation in a venture which they knew or should have known 22 23 involved sex trafficking. Plaintiff asserts claims against the G6 defendants under the 24 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (“TVPRA”), alleging that they are 25 26 1 The Complaint refers to this property as both Studio 6 and Motel 6. ORDER GRANTING IN PART THE G6 DEFENDANTS’ 1 liable under the TVPRA as perpetrators (18 U.S.C. § 1591(a)(1)) and beneficiaries (18 2 U.S.C. § 1591(a)(2)) of sex trafficking based on their own conduct and the conduct of their 3 agents at the branded property. The G6 defendants seek dismissal of all of plaintiff’s 4 5 claims, arguing that the majority of the TVPRA claims are time-barred and that all claims 6 fail as a matter of law. 7 The question for the Court on a motion to dismiss is whether the facts alleged in the 8 complaint sufficiently state a “plausible” ground for relief. Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 9 10 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). In the context of a motion under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules 11 of Civil Procedure, the Court must “accept factual allegations in the complaint as true and 12 construe the pleadings in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.” Manzarek v. St. 13 Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 519 F.3d 1025, 1031 (9th Cir. 2008) (citation omitted). The 14 15 Court’s review is generally limited to the contents of the complaint. Campanelli v. 16 Bockrath, 100 F.3d 1476, 1479 (9th Cir. 1996). “We are not, however, required to accept 17 as true allegations that contradict exhibits attached to the Complaint or matters properly 18 subject to judicial notice, or allegations that are merely conclusory, unwarranted 19 deductions of fact, or unreasonable inferences.” Daniels-Hall v. Nat’l Educ. Ass’n, 629 20 21 F.3d 992, 998 (9th Cir. 2010). 22 To survive a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), a complaint must allege 23 “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” []Twombly, 550 U.S. [at 570]. A plausible claim includes “factual content 24 that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is 25 liable for the misconduct alleged.” U.S. v. Corinthian Colls., 655 F.3d 984, 26 991 (9th Cir. 2011) (quoting Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009)). Under the pleading standards of Rule 8(a)(2), a party must make a “short and ORDER GRANTING IN PART THE G6 DEFENDANTS’ 1 plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” 2 Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). . . . A complaint “that offers ‘labels and conclusions’ or ‘a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.’” 3 Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555). Thus, 4 “conclusory allegations of law and unwarranted inferences are insufficient to defeat a motion to dismiss.” Adams v. Johnson, 355 F.3d 1179, 1183 (9th 5 Cir. 2004). 6 7 Benavidez v. Cty. of San Diego, 993 F.3d 1134, 1144–45 (9th Cir. 2021). If the complaint 8 fails to state a cognizable legal theory or fails to provide sufficient facts to support a claim, 9 dismissal is appropriate. Shroyer v. New Cingular Wireless Servs., Inc., 622 F.3d 1035, 10 1041 (9th Cir. 2010). 11 12 BACKGROUND2 13 Plaintiff alleges that she was forced to engage in commercial sex acts at a Studio 6 14 hotel that is owned and operated by Old West 6017, LLC (“Old West”) in Mountlake 15 Terrace, Washington. Dkt. # 1 at ¶¶ 7 and 15. The G6 defendants allegedly own the 16 property on which the Studio 6 is located and control the Studio 6 brand, which they allow 17 18 Old West to use through a franchise agreement. Dkt. # 1 at ¶¶ 24 and 53. Plaintiff further 19 alleges that she “was commercially sex trafficked for nearly two years straight [2007- 20 2009] and then off and on at G6 Defendants’ owned and operated locations . . . through 21 September 2014. Dkt. # 1 at ¶¶ 7, 60, and 115. Plaintiff accuses the G6 defendants of: 22 23 24

25 2 In this summary of the allegations, the Court has ignored conclusory assertions of knowledge and/or formulaic uses of statutory language, instead focusing on allegations of fact that might raise a plausible inference of knowledge, 26 harboring, agency, and other elements of a TVPRA claim. The Court has also disregarded allegations of fact contained in plaintiff’s opposition memorandum but not included in the complaint. ORDER GRANTING IN PART THE G6 DEFENDANTS’ 1 1. designing and promoting Studio 6 properties as extended stay hotels with 2 kitchenettes and placing them near airports, freeways, other thoroughfares, and “in known trafficking areas/hubs” (Dkt. # 1 at ¶¶ 24 and 88); 3

4 2. developing employee training protocols, safety standards, human trafficking policies, and other standards for Studio 6 properties and requiring 5 compliance with brand standards and all local, state, and federal laws (Dkt. 6 # 1 at ¶¶ 25(a), 25(o), 53, 56, and 58); 7 3. collecting a percentage of gross room revenues generated at each Studio 6 8 property through a franchise arrangement, allowing it to profit from the 9 operations while avoiding the risks of owning/operating the hotels (Dkt. # 1 at ¶¶ 25(b) and 53); 10

11 4. sharing “a high degree of interrelated, intermingled, and unified operations” with 12 Old West (Dkt. # 1 at ¶ 25(f));

13 5. jointly controlling and employing Old West’s employees (Dkt. # 1 at ¶ 25(h)); 14 6. designing, owning, supervising, controlling, and/or operating the Studio 6 in 15 Mountlake Terrace (Dkt. # 1 at ¶ 25(r)); 16 17 7. offering reservation services for Studio 6 that are anonymous and untraceable (Dkt. # 1 at ¶¶ 38, 46, and 59); 18

19 8. failing to take basic steps to identify and prevent trafficking in their hotels, such as requiring photo identification, not accepting daily cash payments, and 20 issuing parking passes for guests only, so that they could continue profiting 21 from the room rentals trafficking generated (Dkt. # 1 at ¶¶ 52, 61, 80-81, and 22 91-92);

23 9. failing to take responsibility and accountability for their inaction and knowingly 24 profiting from sex trafficking ventures around the country, including at the Studio 6 in Mountlake Terrace (Dkt. # 1 at ¶ 102); 25

26 ORDER GRANTING IN PART THE G6 DEFENDANTS’ 1 10.

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Bluebook (online)
Doe v. G6 Hospitality LLC, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/doe-v-g6-hospitality-llc-wawd-2025.