Case Against Airbnb in Fatal House Party Shooting Can Proceed, Judge Rules

The family of an 18-year-old fatally shot during a Sunnyvale house party at a property rented through Airbnb notched a rare win against the short-term rental giant in court this week.

In a Thursday order from the bench, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Charles Haines rejected Airbnb’s attempt to get negligence and unfair competition allegations against the company tossed out.

Haines’ ruling allows the case against San Francisco-based Airbnb to proceed toward a civil trial where the question of the company’s liability could be weighed. The decision could also strengthen the family’s leverage in potential settlement negotiations.

Teresa Li, the attorney for the family of Elias Elhania, said this is the first case she is aware of in the country where Airbnb has failed at getting dismissals of liability in such cases.

“We would like to see Airbnb take responsibility for its actions,” Li told KQED.

Elhania, a San José resident, attended a party at a home in Sunnyvale on the night of Aug. 7, 2021.

In her 2023 complaint against the company and the homeowner, Li said the party “was advertised all over the internet” and had roughly 150 to 200 attendees, with some people paying a cover charge to get in. The guests included many under the age of 21, though alcohol was being served, Li said.

During the party, a 17-year-old guest that Elhania did not know shot him in the chest and neck, killing him. Another person was also shot but survived. A 17-year-old was arrested later that year on suspicion of the shooting and had a case pending in juvenile court, Li said.

Police were called by a neighbor complaining about noise from the party before the shooting occurred. Responding officers were outside in the front of the home working on contacting the property owner to get access when Elhania was shot in the back of the home, Li said.

The complaint alleges that both Airbnb and the homeowner, Ke Zhou, were negligent in allowing the rental because it violated multiple rules Sunnyvale has in place designed to prevent large parties and potential violence at short-term rentals.

One of the key provisions of Sunnyvale’s ordinance requires that anyone listing their property on platforms like Airbnb “must reside on-site throughout the lodgers’ stay” and that it be the owner’s primary residence. A maximum of four overnight guests are allowed per listing.

Owners must also register for a permit with the city and gain approval before listing their property for rent on platforms like Airbnb.

However, Li alleges Zhou never registered the home with the city and shouldn’t have been allowed to list it on Airbnb. The home was listed as an “entire home” rental, meaning there would not be a host on-site, as required by city rules.

Li said Airbnb was well aware of Sunnyvale’s rules because the company participated in the public process when the ordinance was created in 2015 and because it hosted a webpage on its site discussing the rules. The company also collects transient occupancy taxes from rentals on its platform in the city and pays that money back to Sunnyvale.

The complaint said the negligence of the homeowner and Airbnb was a “substantial factor” in causing Elhania’s death.

Airbnb and two of its attorneys did not respond to requests for comment.

Li said Airbnb was or should have been aware such tragedies could happen because similar incidents have occurred dozens of times.

In the two years leading up to the Sunnyvale shooting, Li’s complaint claims that approximately 79 people died and 183 people were injured from shootings at short-term rentals in the U.S. and Canada, most of which occurred at properties listed on Airbnb. One of those shootings was at a home rented on Airbnb in Orinda, where five people were killed and others injured on Halloween night in 2019.

Li said that the attorneys for Airbnb also argued in court that the company can’t be expected to follow the many different local regulations of the myriad cities around the world in which it operates.

“That’s essentially arguing you are too big of a company that you are above the law. Nobody is above the law,” Li said.

Li said her clients would like to see the company admit it has done business in a way that violated local laws on short-term rentals and to change its business practices to improve safety.

‘“We would like to see Airbnb take that responsibility so that my client didn’t die in vain,” Li said.