The Dominican Republic resort where a Delaware woman was reportedly tortured for eight hours is closing its doors temporarily because of bad publicity, after her story went public.
Tammy Lawrence-Daley, 51, from Wilmington, Delaware, claimed she was attacked and tortured at Majestic Resorts in the Dominican Republic in January and had hoped to settle the matter amicably, according to Fox News.
She had requested a $2.2 Million settlement for severe physical trauma and PTSD from the resort, hoping to keep the matter from going public.
When Lawrence-Daley and the resort did not come to an agreement, the resort publicly rebutted her allegations. Lawrence-Daily then filed a lawsuit in July.
She claimed 3 Million for “justice” and “accountability” and asked to be compensated for “permanent, life-changing injuries,” according to the lawsuit the Delaware News Journal obtained.
She took to Facebook and posted graphic photos of her bruised and swollen face. She had suffered bruises, lacerations, a fractured nose, nerve damage, and a ripped mouth. Posted photos shook the nation.
“I paste on that smile and say ‘I’m fine,'” Lawrence-Daley wrote on Facebook, “But inside, my mind doesn’t stop. I have feelings of depression, anxiety, anger, panic attacks, shame, and a deep-rooted fear. I wake up thinking about it. I close my eyes to memories of it, I dream about it. This incident has changed my life and my family’s life dramatically. My injuries are healing, but my mind, my mind is silently screaming through it all.”
The perpetrator is still unknown and there is no clear motive for the alleged attack.
Lawrence-Daley’s and other reports including mysterious deaths in the Dominican Republic have led to a plummeting number of tourists going to the island. This is especially true for the Majestic Resorts in Punta Cana where the alleged incident happened.
The Majestic Elegance Punta Cana will close its doors from August 15 to November 7, 2019. Two other resorts in the Dominican Republic, the Majestic Mirage Punta Cana and the Majestic Colonial Punta Cana, will remain open.
Vice president of sales and marketing Ricardo Espinosa said in a letter (pdf) to different tour operators and travel agencies: “As you may know during the last few months the Dominican Republic, and specifically Punta Cana, has been portrayed in the media negatively based on isolated issues not related to each other. As a result, thousands of cancelations have come our way for our three resorts in Punta Cana.”
He continued: “We don’t feel we are providing the best possible experience by having an empty resort. In turn, we have decided to close temporarily Majestic Elegance Punta Cana and we will upgrade all guests booked at the hotel to Majestic Mirage Punta Cana in the same room category or higher.”
“I feel really bad because I wouldn’t want anybody to be out of work or anything like that. I wouldn’t wish anything bad against the resort,” Lawrence-Daley said in an interview with Delaware Online. “But we did read that they were closing due to low occupancy, which I believe is due to the viral nature of my posting on Facebook. People were very upset about how Majestic handled the situation.”
