A student journalist in town to cover the Boca Raton Bowl is suing Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc., developer Related Ross LLC, and the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners, alleging a man exposed himself and sexually gratified himself in front of her inside a women's restroom at the Hilton West Palm Beach in December 2024. The woman is seeking damages for medical expenses, lost wages, and a significant amount of non-economic damages, though the civil suit does not yet include a calculated dollar figure.
The incident unfolded on December 17, 2024, while the woman was in the area covering the Boca Raton Bowl, according to BocaNewsNow.com, which obtained the original police report that led to the suspect's arrest and conviction. The woman says she saw a man in the restroom stall across from hers touching himself while making eye contact with her, and hotel security video reportedly showed the man had followed her from the lobby into the restroom corridor. She reported the incident to the Hilton front desk, and West Palm Beach police responded to the hotel at 600 Okeechobee Boulevard that afternoon.
Security footage reviewed by investigators showed the suspect entering the female restroom after passing the male restroom, then attempting to exit through doors leading to the lawn and pool area, which were locked, before exiting north from the hotel, the outlet's report states. The restroom itself had six stalls, three on each side. The woman returned to the hotel around 2:45 p.m. that same day and, two days later, identified Bruce Stone in a photo lineup conducted on December 19, 2024.
A Familiar Face to Investigating Officers
According to the same report, an officer identified only as Officer Blake recognized Bruce Stone from a previous case, which gave police probable cause to charge him with one count of exposure of sexual organs. Stone, identified as a Black male born November 9, 1988, had previously been adjudicated guilty on two felony indecent exposure counts on June 15, 2023, and January 18, 2024, in a case referenced in the report as case number 20230010462.
Bruce Bernard Stone, 36 at the time, was arrested on December 24, 2024, and charged with felony exposure of sexual organs. Under Florida Statute § 800.03, exposure of sexual organs is typically a first-degree misdemeanor, but a second or subsequent offense escalates the charge to a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine — the enhancement that applied in Stone's case given his two prior felony indecent exposure convictions.
Why the County Is Named in the Suit
The civil suit, filed in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, names Related Ross, LLC; Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc., doing business as Hilton West Palm Beach; and the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners as defendants. The 400-room hotel sits on Palm Beach County-owned property and was developed and operated by Related Companies, now Related Ross, under a long-term public-private lease agreement, according to the Commercial Observer. That ownership structure explains why the county commission was named alongside the hotel entities, since the arrangement raises questions about which party bears responsibility for guest security.
Because the hotel sits on county land leased to Related Ross, naming the county board introduces sovereign immunity defenses and statutory pre-suit notification requirements under Florida Statute § 768.28, a dynamic outlined by the Don't Get Hit Twice legal blog. That statute requires written pre-suit notice to the government agency and state financial regulators before a lawsuit against a Florida county can proceed, and it imposes statutory caps on public entity liability. It remains unclear whether the county will invoke that immunity protection or whether the public-private operating agreement will shift security liability primarily onto Hilton and Related Ross.
The Legal Standard for Holding a Hotel Liable
To prevail against the commercial defendants, the plaintiff will need to show that the criminal act was reasonably foreseeable and that hotel management failed to maintain adequate security, a standard explained by Jeff Gale Law. Under Florida premises liability law, property owners and commercial operators owe business invitees a duty of care to implement reasonable security measures against third-party criminal acts when prior similar criminal activity made the harm reasonably foreseeable.
The hotel includes an enclosed covered walkway connecting its lobby corridors directly to the Palm Beach County Convention Center, according to the Palm Beach County Convention Center, a layout that put the restroom corridor within easy reach of both hotel guests and convention-goers during the bowl weekend. The 11th annual Boca Raton Bowl, pitting Western Kentucky University against James Madison University, was held December 18, 2024, at FAU Stadium, drawing bowl events and media contingents to hotels throughout Palm Beach County in the days beforehand, per Wikipedia. Hoodline's own coverage at the time, Boca Raton Bowl fan fest coverage, captured the local excitement surrounding that weekend's festivities.
The plaintiff's attorneys, Phillips, Hayden & Labbee, LLP, are a civil litigation and personal injury firm based in St. Petersburg, Florida, according to BCGSearch.com. The case arrives amid broader legislative action in Florida targeting exposure offenses: lawmakers this year enacted House Bill 1525, creating a new third-degree felony under Florida Statute § 800.035 for sexual organ exposure or masturbation in the presence of a minor under 16, a law Hoodline detailed in its recent report on a Wellington exposure case. Palm Beach County courts have also seen multiple indecent exposure prosecutions in 2026 where prosecutors were required to establish vulgar or lascivious intent beyond mere public presence, underscoring the evidentiary hurdles that shape how such cases are charged and litigated locally.
Meanwhile, the county's relationship with Related Ross continues to deepen: commissioners approved a $26 million agreement in September with the developer to build a second 400-room convention center hotel adjacent to the existing Hilton, according to Northstar Meetings Group, a project that would expand the site to 800 combined guest rooms even as the civil suit over the 2024 incident moves through the courts.
