A 77-year-old Marine Corps veteran died after suffering severe scalding burns in a hotel bathroom, prompting a wrongful-death law suit that accuses the property of violating California’s plumbing code, according to People.
On May 22, the complaint alleges Terril Johnson was found unresponsive and partially submerged in scalding water at the Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites near San Jose International Airport. First responders pronounced him dead at the scene. The Santa Clara County medical examiner determined the cause of death was “severe scalding burns … complicating hypertension,” with burns on roughly a third of his body, People reported.
Johnson had traveled to attend his granddaughter’s San Jose State University graduation. The lawsuit contends the shower did not have a required temperature-limiting valve under the California Plumbing Code and describes the death as “entirely preventable.” Water from the shower later measured between 134°F and 136°F—above the code’s 120°F maximum—KGO reports, citing court filings also referenced by the Los Angeles Times.
The Los Angeles Times says that it is not known why Johnson couldn’t get out of the shower or how long he had been in it before he was found. The lawsuit asks for damages that are not stated for wrongful death and emotional suffering caused by negligence.
Johnson was a husband of 54 years, a retired transit technician who grew up in Indiana, and is survived by his wife, a son, and four grandchildren, People said. Marriott International did not immediately comment on the allegations.
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