A federal court in Illinois granted in part and denied in part several motions to dismiss TVPRA and Illinois Trafficking Victims Protection Act claims arising from alleged sex trafficking at multiple Chicago-area hotels. Emily T. v. SBY Downers Grove, 2026 WL 1265381 (N.D. Ill. May 8, 2026).
Two plaintiffs brought sex trafficking claims against multiple hotel operators and franchisors, alleging in part that the franchisors were liable for trafficking that occurred at the franchised properties. The complaint emphasized the franchisors’ extensive contractual control over franchisees, including requiring the use of proprietary systems, providing access to hotel data, mandating training programs, controlling hiring and pricing practices, and retaining inspection and enforcement rights. Plaintiffs also alleged that the franchisors knew that their hotel networks were sites of widespread trafficking, yet failed to act. The plaintiffs argued that this level of control and access to operational data gave franchisors the ability to detect and prevent trafficking activity and, at minimum, supported liability under theories that they knowingly benefited from or participated in a trafficking venture.
On motions to dismiss, the court distinguished between direct and indirect liability theories as to the franchisors. The court held that the plaintiffs failed to plausibly allege direct (perpetrator or direct beneficiary) liability, because the complaint did not show a sufficiently close relationship between the franchisors and the trafficker or specific knowledge of the plaintiffs’ trafficking; those claims were dismissed. However, the court allowed indirect (vicarious) liability theories to proceed, finding that the alleged degree of operational control and franchisor–franchisee relationship plausibly supported agency or joint-employer theories under which franchisors could be liable for franchisee conduct. Accordingly, while the franchisors avoided direct liability at the pleading stage, the court largely denied their motions to dismiss as to vicarious or indirect beneficiary claims, allowing those claims to proceed into discovery.