An American woman who shared bloodied photographs she said were taken after she was brutally beaten at a resort in the Dominican Republic earlier this year is suing the resort for $3 million.
Tammy Lawrence-Daley, 51, said she was staying at the Majestic Elegance in Punta Cana when she was attacked by a man wearing a hotel uniform, beaten, and left for dead in a maintenance room.
“The next 8 hours brought me pain and fear. I was strangled multiple times to unconsciousness,” she wrote in a Facebook post that went viral. “My lifeless body was [dragged] down concrete stairs to an underground wastewater area. I was kicked in the head, I was beaten with a club. And then strangled again for the kill.”
According to a press release circulated by Lawrence-Daley’s lawyers and obtained by the Delaware News Journal, the woman is suing Majestic Elegance for $3 million for compensation for “permanent, life-changing injuries.”
Del. woman sues Dominican Republic resort for $3 million after alleged attack https://t.co/nhhod2C4q1
— FOX 29 (@FOX29philly) July 18, 2019
“Mrs. Lawrence-Daley and her team want Americans to know that they are being misled to believe that the Majestic Elegance Punta Cana did their job in handling this matter and that their facilities are safe,” the press release reads.
The lawyers said their client was beaten so badly her husband and friends didn’t recognize her when she was found.
“Mrs. Lawrence-Daley was bloody, battered, and covered with severe abrasions and bruises. Her face and eyes were so bloodied and swollen that she was unable to see. Mrs.Lawrence-Daley lost one of her teeth and required immediate surgery to suture her gum line back together,” said lawyers in a statement, reported WABC.
Official information from Majestic Resorts Punta Cana pic.twitter.com/97BIdz7aEE
— Majestic Resorts – 5* star luxury hotels (@MajesticResorts) June 5, 2019
The resort in a statement in June called what happened to Lawrence-Daley a “confusing incident” and said that when she was found the morning after disappearing, “she showed bruises on her face and had broken a fingernail, without presenting any other signs of violence on her body.”
It said Lawrence-Daley “is a professional in the insurance industry in the United States” and said she “formally demanded a $2.2 million compensation agreement.”
“After receiving no positive response, she disclosed her version of the case, four months after it happened,” the resort added, saying “there are weak points, contradictions on the information offered … and unanswered questions in this strange and unusual case.”
Police said they were probing the attack but also cast doubt on the story. Punta Cana Tourism Police spokesman Ramón Brito told NBC 10 that during interviews authorities noted “incongruencies” and “discrepancies” in what Lawrence-Daley said.
Delaware Woman Who Says She Was Brutally Beaten in Dominican Republic Sues Resort https://t.co/Tl80iyPWRO
— Tracy Davidson (@tracydavidson) July 18, 2019
Her husband responded at the time, calling the comments “crazy” and noting he was present during the interviews.
Lawrence-Daley’s lawyers addressed the resort’s statement, saying in their statement the “resort staff did nothing” when the disappearance was reported.
“In fact, the lone security guard was lounging in a chair, playing on his cellphone. The resort refused to start a search for several hours. The resort’s handling of this tragic incident has been a disaster. Had the resort responded immediately and had even basic security protocols been in place, the assault could have been completely avoided or at least been stopped sooner,” the lawyers wrote, reported WABC.
“A rape kit was delayed by 48 hours and only administered after Mrs. Lawrence-Daley was showered and cleaned up. To date, no reports have been released to the Daley family or her attorneys.”
