After a tourist was raped at knifepoint in 2015 in an Airbnb- associated rental property in New York’s Times Square, the homestay aggregator paid her $7 million. The rape survivor’s
lawyer and Airbnb had reached a settlement after years of the incident. According to reports, in exchange for $7 million the woman can not blame or sue Airbnb or the host of the apartment where the incident took place.
In 2015, an unnamed Australian tourist claimed that she was raped, when she along with her friends was visiting New York City to celebrate New Year’s Eve. The 29-years-old victim and her friends picked up the keys to the Airbnb property from a nearby shop. The police suggest the accused, 24-year old Junior Lee raped the woman at knifepoint after she had returned to the property on her own after the new year celebration.
After arresting the accused, cops found three incrimination items, including a set of keys to the apartment. The accused has been charged with predatory sexual assault and pleaded not guilty but is in custody.
After the horrible incident, the Airbnb safety agents relocated the woman to a hotel, flew her mother overseas from Australia and offered to cover any health or counselling costs.
The homestay aggregator Airbnb has written a check for $7 million to the survivor. It is one of the biggest payouts of the company. In exchange for settlement money the woman cannot blame or sue the company or host of the apartment, however, a company spokesperson Ben Breit insisted that ‘the survivors of sexual assault can speak freely about their experiences as part of the settlements the company has reached’.
“We proactively reached out to the NYPD after the attack to offer our assistance for their investigation, and we helped get her into a hotel. The priority for our company and our executives were supporting the survivor and doing right by someone who had endured trauma," the spokesperson added.