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And Marriott International reservations executive Renee Buonincontri testified that in 2008, if Barrett called and requested a room next to Andrews, it wouldn’t have been required for the hotel to call Andrews and make sure that was OK. Marriott International was dropped as a defendant months before trial.

All this shows how important a properly written privacy protocol is, according to Neil Ray of One LLP .

“[It] confirms to guests how hotels collect, use, and disclose personal data of their guests; how they ensure that that data is stored safely and securely; and … how they protect against any intrusion of seclusion that guests can reasonably expect in their hotel room,” Ray said.

This helps hotels avoid liability, given that the kind of information they may have on a guest goes far beyond their room number.

“Hotels have a lot of sensitive information about their guests. It could include vehicle information; sometimes you have to give your passport information,” he noted.

Andrews broke down repeatedly while testifying about the video, describing sleeplessness and depression, as well as then-employer ESPN’s refusal to allow her back on the air until she had agreed to be interviewed by Oprah. She said the Nashville Marriott never warned her that a man had requested the room next to hers.

“Did anybody from the hotel call you and tell you that a man called?” Andrews’ lawyer asked her at one point.

“No one ever called me. No one ever checked with me and told me that he asked to be put next to me,” she said.

Attorneys for the hotel owner and operator said in their closing that staffers were trained in privacy protocol and that the hotel was on guard against every foreseeable harm. But Barrett’s ends could never have been predicted, they said.

“It was not foreseeable that some criminal would go to the steps that he did,” said Marc Dedman of Spicer Rudstrom. “And by the way, he also did it to Ms. Andrews at [two other hotels]. He also did it to 10 or 15 women at other hotels around this country.”

He added: “That someone would take that and upload it to the Internet, is that foreseeable?”

It’s not clear what the franchise’s policies are these days or whether Marriott has added strict franchise requirements to the extensive franchisee standards it imposes in other areas. Representatives for Marriott were not immediately available for comment.

Even though Marriott International was dropped as a defendant, the case still should serve as a cautionary tale for franchisors, said Randy Sabett, vice chair of the privacy practice at Cooley LLP.

“You have a publicly known and a significantly valuable brand,” Sabett said. Companies like that “need to carefully negotiate those provisions in their agreements that deal with privacy, data breaches, security — all the way through the supply chain. Obviously, the brand tarnish you can never get away from. Emblazoned on the top of the building, I am sure, is a huge Marriott symbol.”

Franchisors take a risk when they lend their names to other corporations, Sabett said. But there are steps they can and should take to protect themselves. They may not be able to write into a contract that they can have recourse for “the brand hit you might take,” Sabett said, but they should be able to lock down compensation for costs incurred because of a breach or subsequent litigation.