According to an amended complaint filed on August 9, Mathur was asleep in Room 1507 at about 10:45 p.m. on April 15, 2013, when a “frantic and loud banging” on his door woke him. Half asleep, jet lagged, and assuming there was an emergency, Mathur opened the door, which he says did not have a door chain.

That is when an overweight woman in black jeans and a black leather jacket forced her way into the middle of the room, found his wallet next to the bed, and took out at least $500. Mathur screamed at the woman to leave and when he picked up the telephone to call for help, she yanked out the cord that connected the handset to its base.

Running into the hallway, he found a male housekeeper standing near an elevator and shouted at him that he was being robbed. The housekeeper at first did not react, then told Mathur, “it’s not my job to call police.”

Before the woman got back on the elevator, she told the housekeeper, according to the complaint, that Mathur “had called me for prostitution and was not paying so I am just taking his money.”

“Don’t worry,” replied the housekeeper, “if they ask I will also say that he called you for prostitution and was not paying.”

Mathur followed the woman into the elevator and when they reached the hotel lobby, he continued screaming that he had been robbed but he says no one tried to stop the woman from leaving the hotel. Two security officers did briefly follow the woman but soon returned, telling Mathur “she is not on our premises and we cannot stop her or detain her.”

Not only where his pleas to call police declined, but Mathur says he was threatened with removal from the lobby if he did not keep his voice down. After about ten minutes, the hotel allowed Mathur (right) to call 911 from a house phone.

Hotel’s ‘citizenship’ challenged in effort to get case remanded

Mathur is trying to get his lawsuit dismissed from United States District Court so it can resume in Cook County Circuit Court.

Wyndham says the case belongs in federal court because the parties represent different nationalities. Mathur responded by saying Wyndham had not specified its nationality, which being a trust would be the nationality of its trustees. A motion filed on August 15 said there is no federal jurisdiction because Wyndham’s request to move the case to District Court was “defective.”

Three days later, Ethan Bornstein, senior vice president of Hospitality Properties Trust, filed a document that specified the state citizenship of all five trustees – California, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and two from Massachusetts.

Both parties did sign an extensive confidentiality agreement that will seal a variety of information collected for the lawsuit, including depositions. The agreement covers trade secrets, medical information, personal identity information, income tax returns, employment records, and any other information either party considers confidential.