A woman who was sexually exploited at a Georgia hotel as a teenager has won $164 million in damages from the property’s former operator. A federal jury in Atlanta found against Lincoln Bancorp LLC in a case involving trafficking at a Super 8 by Wyndham in College Park.According to Atlanta Journal Constitution, the woman was 15 when the alleged exploitation began in 2020. It continued into 2021, when she was 16. During her testimony, she described how hotel employees failed to help her get away from the situation. Her lawyers argued that the company should be held responsible for what happened at the property.The jury delivered its decision in September. It awarded the woman $44 million for the harm she suffered and imposed a further $120 million in punitive damages. The total award came to $164 million.The hotel was located on Old National Highway, near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Lincoln Bancorp owned and operated the Super 8 property from December 2019 until December 2021.The plaintiff’s legal team believes the award could be the largest verdict of its kind. The decision also comes amid several other sex trafficking cases involving hotels in Georgia.
$120 million awarded as punitive damages
Of the $164 million awarded, $120 million was imposed as punitive damages. The remaining $44 million was awarded as compensation for the injuries suffered by the woman.The verdict follows an earlier case in Atlanta in which a jury awarded $40 million in damages in July 2025. That case involved the United Inn & Suites on Memorial Drive in DeKalb County.The latest decision is another major financial penalty involving allegations of trafficking at a hotel. The legal claims in such cases can involve the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorisation Act (TVPRA), which allows victims to seek damages from businesses that knowingly benefit from sex trafficking.
Other Georgia hotels have faced trafficking cases
The $164 million verdict is part of a wider series of lawsuits involving hotels in Georgia. Several properties have faced claims that their owners or operators allowed trafficking to take place or benefited from it.In June 2024, Red Roof Inn settled a sex trafficking case involving two hotels in the Atlanta area. The settlement came while the case was being heard in federal court.Another case involved the Days Inn & Suites in Stockbridge. The hotel agreed to pay $5 million in September 2025 to resolve a federal lawsuit brought by two women.The women alleged that hotel employees helped their trafficker sell them at the property in 2013. They were 14 at the time.The United Inn & Suites case also continued to have legal consequences beyond the original jury verdict. In April 2026, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the hotel would have to face two additional sex trafficking lawsuits.These cases have placed hotel operators under scrutiny over their responsibility to identify and respond to trafficking on their premises.The latest Atlanta verdict adds another substantial award to the growing number of sex trafficking cases brought against hotel businesses in Georgia.