Ellis George attorneys Keith Wesley and Thomas Godwin represent Southern California-based Memory Lane Inc. in its lawsuit against Best Western International and the Strongsville, Ohio, hotel where more than $2 million in vintage baseball cards were stolen just before the 2024 Strongsville Sports Card Show.
Memory Lane Inc. is a leading dealer and auction house specializing in vintage sports cards and memorabilia. Before the 2024 card show, Memory Lane shipped a package containing 54 sports cards to the hotel, which had previously advertised “secure storage for guest property at its front desk,” only to discover the cards could not be located when an MLI employee arrived to claim the package.
The suit claims the Best Western Plus Hotel in Strongsville failed to uphold its promise to safeguard hotel guest property and neglected to properly investigate the hotel employee who was later arrested for the theft, despite having a history of suspected thefts at prior jobs. Due to the theft, MLI took a loan of $1.8 million to repay the owners who had consigned their baseball cards to MLI for sale. All but two of the cards were eventually recovered.
Although the suit had initially been filed in California Superior Court, it was recently transferred to federal jurisdiction. Claims include negligence, false advertising, fraud, and unfair business practices.
