A Mississippi man is suing Airbnb and one of their “superhosts” after he was accused of violating the house rules. The ordeal lead to the revealing of a photo that nearly cost him his marriage.
Shawn Mackey says the weekend of Sep. 9th, he booked a three-bed, two-bath Airbnb in Memphis owned by host Pamela Fohler. It cost a whopping $567 a night, according to the listing. Mackey said he was in town to attend a football game and informed Fohler he expected additional guests to stay with him in the home. In response, the suit says he was asked by Fohler to send the names of the extra guests and was sent a detailed list of the property’s do’s and don’t’s as well as a warning that the home had surveillance cameras on the outside.
The lawsuit says Mackey sent a list of nine people he expected to join him and confirmed only four or five of them would be sleeping over. In response, the suit claims Fohler said she would only be able to accommodate 8 guests. The suit also claims that minutes later Fohler sent another message asking him to either add the extra guests or have them leave the house immediately, reporting that she received complaints of disturbances, loud noise and profanity in the parking lot.
After that, she sent a third message saying Mackey violated the no-party rule and must vacate the premises as he lost his privileges to stay at the Airbnb, according to a screenshot of the correspondence.
The Airbnb Battle Begins
Mackey insists in his lawsuit that he didn’t throw a party and that only five people showed up at the home - all of whom he claims were not hootin’ and hollin’ in the parking area as alleged.
Mackey’s suit says he received check-out instructions the next morning, per typical protocol. However, he and his guests didn’t leave until the original check out day which was the following day, per the suit. After leaving the property, he says he left a review on the website expressing dissatisfaction with his stay and requesting a refund for at least one night’s worth of his payment. Mackey then claimed Fohler harassed him after reading his review and says Airbnb removed it from the page.
A few days later, the suit claims he was placed under an investigation by the company and his account was suspended.
Then it Gets Messier
During the battle over whether Mackey deserved to be on the Airbnb-ban list, Fohler messaged him offering to send photo evidence of her claims that he invited a few-too-many people over, the suit says. Mackey then claims Fohler posted them to YouTube because they were too large to send via text and highlighted one photo of him standing outside the front door with another woman.
Then, he says he received a notice from Airbnb demanding $960 for breaking the rules. After refusing to pay it and maintaining his innocence, the suit alleges Fohler retaliated by making a burner email and sending his wife the photo of him and the woman outside the Airbnb.
“I love your bag, where’d you get it?” read a screenshot of the email.
As a result, Mackey claims this ordeal has severely damaged his marriage and accuses Airbnb of aiding in the “illegal and abhorrent conduct” of their superhost. Fohler denied ever having correspondence with Mackey’s wife and Airbnb has since filed a motion to compel arbitration, per court documents.
Whew. Still, Mackey demands a jury trial.