PARKERSBURG – A recently married couple says their nuptials were ruined when most of their wedding gifts as well as irreplaceable family items were stolen.
Brittni McGuire and George Capel filed their complaint in Wood Circuit Court against Leeway Corp. LLC, R&W Hotels LLC doing business as The Blennerhassett Hotel & Spa and Lee Rector. Rector is an owner of R&W as well as Leeway, which owns the property where the hotel is located. He and Wayne Waldeck purchased the historic hotel in 2019.
“What was supposed to be one of plaintiffs’ most special times was turned into a nightmare,” the complaint states. “Plaintiffs’ trust had been violated, their wedding items worth at least thousands of dollars, including irreplaceable family and custom items, had been taken, and plaintiffs’ wedding was permanently marked with a black cloud that has, and continues to, harm plaintiffs.”
The defendants deny the allegations.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs were married at the historic hotel on November 26, 2022, in front of 120 guests. While the couple lives in Kanawha County, Capel grew up in Wood County and still has close ties there.
“At what is supposed to be one of the happiest times of their lives – their wedding – plaintiffs became the victims of defendants tortious conduct,” the complaint states. “Plaintiffs had rented from the Blennerhassett defendants a conference room in which the wedding parties could get ready and store items for the wedding festivities. After getting ready, members of the wedding parties stored various items in the board room – which defendants had represented to plaintiffs would be secured.
“Sometime during or after the reception, plaintiffs’ wedding coordinator – an employee and agent of defendants – had moved the cards, gifts and other items that plaintiffs had received from the guests from the reception area in one of the hotel’s reception halls to the board room for storage there overnight.
“But the next day, when plaintiffs and members of their wedding party returned to the board room they found, among other things, that the wedding items that had been stored there by defendants’ agent were gone.”
The couple said it later became clear what happened.
“The Blennerhassett defendants had negligently or intentionally failed to secure the board room and wedding items located in it and had negligently or intentionally permitted them to be taken,” the complaint states. “Worse yet, Rector, one of the owners and members of the Blennerhassett defendants, had intentionally permitted plaintiffs’ wedding items to be taken, removed and destroyed, and had participated in that taking, removal and destruction.”
The couple say they rented various spaces for the wedding, including a ceremony tent, a reception hall, the board room and a hotel room. As part of the wedding rental package, they say the defendants provided a wedding planner.
Instead of opening the wedding cards and gifts they received at the reception, the couple says they opted to enjoy the company of friends and family who attended the wedding. The gifts and cards were placed on a cart and taken to the board room for storage overnight, according to the complaint. They also say Rector made himself present during the evening at the wedding events.
“Indeed, Rector – despite not being an invited guest – attended the reception and sought to mingle and ingratiate himself with the guests and the wedding party,” the complaint states. “He did so by, among other things, bringing drinks for various guests. Rector remained among the guests most of the evening.”
The couple retired to their room for the night. When they awoke the next morning and wend to the board room, they discovered the wedding items had been taken.
“All that remained were remnants of broken custom-made gifts, wrapping paper scraps, and only a handful of cards from guests,” the complaint states. “In addition, certain other items, including some of plaintiffs’ custom-made wedding decorations had been ruined by vomit that covered them.”
The Parkersburg Police Department was called, and review of security footage showed some of the wedding items being removed by two males who had been brought to the premises at the direction and invitation of Rector, according to the complaint.
“As confirmed by the security footage, Rector had led the two males around the hotel, granting them access to various rooms, including the board room,” the complaint states. “Plaintiffs had never given Rector permission to access the board room or to permit others to access the board room. …
“The two males had been instructed, encouraged and authorized by Rector to take the wedding items. Rector implicitly or explicitly represented to the two males that the gifts belonged to Rector. Indeed, … Rector’s instruction, encouragement and authorization may have been part of a scheme by Rector to induce or solicit certain actions from the two males. … Rector also offered to pay the two males.”
The couple also says Rector coerced the two males into drinking alcohol, and one of them proceeded to throw up throughout the board room, including on some of the wedding items.
They accuse the defendants of negligence, trespass to chattel, conversion, unjust enrichment, fraud, intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy.
The couple seeks compensatory damages, non-economic damages, consequential damages, special damages and punitive damages as well as the value of all items lost, stolen or damaged. They also seek pre- and post-judgment interests, court costs, attorney fees and other relief.
In their answer to the complaint filed January 28, the defendants deny the allegations and seek to have the case dismissed with prejudice. If they are found negligent, the defendants also say “the plaintiffs were equally or more negligent than the defendants.”
The couple is being represented by Max C. Gottlieb of Hissam Forman Donovan Ritchie in Charleston. The defendants are being represented by George J. Cosenza of Parkersburg. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Jason Wharton.
Wood Circuit Court case number 24-C-391