Woman sues Mexican travel company for wrongful death of husband in hot tub

CNN
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A Texas woman has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against two Mexican travel companies, seeking more than $1 million after her husband was electrocuted in a resort hot tub earlier this month.

Lizzette Zambrano, a resident of El Paso County, Texas, accuses the “operators, managers and owners” of the Sonoran Sea Resort in Sonora, Mexico, of “gross negligence” that led to her injury and the death of her husband, Jorge Guillen, according to the lawsuit. She is currently recovering at home, her attorney said.

“I want someone to take responsibility for what happened to my husband and me,” Zambrano said in an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America that aired Friday.

The couple was on vacation at the resort on June 11 when they decided to spend time in the hot tub, the lawsuit says. As soon as Guillen got into the tub, he was “exposed to an electrical current in the water,” it says.

“Jorge immediately fell into the tub and was pulled beneath the surface of the water,” the lawsuit states. “When Lizzette saw her husband immediately collapse, she leapt forward from the edge of the pool and attempted to grab Jorge’s body…”

Zambrano tried to save him, the lawsuit says, but was also in shock. She was eventually rescued by a passerby and taken to a hospital.

“Guests attempted to help by grabbing a shepherd’s cross and other items to recover Jorge’s body,” the lawsuit states. “However, the metal of the items conducted electricity and electrocuted rescue workers.”

The lawsuit names vacation rental companies Casago, LLC, Casago International, LLC and High Desert Travel, Inc. as defendants. CNN has reached out to each company for comment. The latter two did not immediately respond.

Guillen was drowning underwater and in shock for 10 minutes, the lawsuit says, before Casago staff and the other defendants “finally intervened and began to assist in rescuing Jorge,” the lawsuit says.

Zambrano told ABC: “A lot of people jumped in, but they kept jumping out because the shaking was so strong.”

In a statement to CNN, Casago LLC said: “We are shocked by what happened and our condolences go out to the family and victims of this horrific incident.”

“The Sonoran Sea is a condo resort and the homeowners association is responsible for all common areas, including maintenance of the swimming pool, hot tubs and grounds. Casago, a vacation rental company, has no involvement in the management or maintenance of the resort,” the statement continued. “With respect to this incident, our involvement ends with the individual condo reservation.”

The homeowners association did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

It is not clear if and how Casago, LLC is affiliated with Casago International LLC. Corporate records show that Casago International, LLC and High Desert Travel, Inc. have the same Arizona business address and the same principal. Corporate records also show that Casago LLC and High Desert Travel have the same phone number.

El Paso County Judge Francisco X. Dominguez issued a temporary restraining order on Tuesday prohibiting the defendants and their employees from modifying the hot tub. The judge also ordered that all video evidence of the incident and all communications about the incident between the defendants’ employees be preserved until at least July 2.

“Securing this evidence is important to the prosecution of Ms. Zambrano’s case and is a critical first step in this litigation to hopefully prevent a tragedy of this nature from ever happening again,” said Zambrano’s attorney, Tej Paranjpe.

The lawsuit describes Guillen as a “hardworking, loving, compassionate, energetic, cooperative, patient and attentive father who provided guidance, counsel, mentorship, protection, comfort, assistance, care and attention to his family.”

“His death deprived Lizzette of the love and companionship of her husband and thus of the right to affection, comfort, security, companionship and support,” the lawsuit states.