Stouffer's Inn Fire
Westchester County, NY
December 4, 1980
On December 4, 1980, a fire broke out in the Stouffer's Inn in Westchester County, NY , killing 26 people. Among the fatalities were 13 high-ranking executives of Arrow Electronics Inc., then the nation's second largest electronics distributor. The deaths of the employees cost the company $5.5 million pre-tax Arrow's earnings fell and it took nearly a decade to reestablish its operating profitability. Arrow sued the owners of the inn, the Stouffer Corporation, alleging that Stouffers agreement for renting the facilities implied that the rooms were suitable and safe, reasonably free of fire hazards, and reasonably equipped with devices to minimize the danger of fire. |
