C.B. v. Naseeb Investments, Inc.: Date Argued: January 30th, 2026; Docket Number: 24-13294

Case Summary:C.B. v. Naseeb Investments, Inc. is a civil human‑trafficking case in which C.B., who was a minor at the time, alleges she was sex trafficked in June 2010 at the Hilltop Inn in Conley, Georgia, a hotel owned and operated by Naseeb Investments, Inc., and she now appeals an adverse summary‑judgment ruling from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, docket number 24‑13294, where the case was argued on January 30, 2026.At the lower‑court level, C.B. filed suit in the Northern District of Georgia (Case No. 1:20‑cv‑04213) alleging that, as a minor, she was sex trafficked over a roughly 24‑hour period in June 2010 at the Hilltop Inn, which Naseeb owns and operates, and that the hotel benefited from and participated in a venture with her trafficker, Timothy Chappell, a registered sex offender and parolee who ultimately pled guilty to federal sex‑trafficking charges. She brought civil claims under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act’s beneficiary provision, contending that Naseeb knowingly benefited from room rentals to Chappell while turning a blind eye to obvious red flags of ongoing trafficking and related prostitution and drug activity at the property, including prior incidents involving minors. Naseeb moved for summary judgment, and the district court, concluding that Eleventh Circuit precedent requires a narrow interpretation of “participation in a venture” and knowledge, granted summary judgment to the hotel, holding that renting rooms to Chappell, even against a backdrop of general prostitution problems at the hotel, did not amount to taking part in a common undertaking with the trafficker and that the record did not create a triable issue that hotel staff actually or constructively knew C.B. herself was being trafficked during that short stay.At the present court, C.B. has appealed that summary‑judgment ruling to the Eleventh Circuit, where the case is docketed as No. 24‑13294, styled C.B., Appellant v. Naseeb Investments, Inc., and classified under the “other personal injury”/TVPRA human‑trafficking category. The Eleventh Circuit’s January 30, 2026 oral‑argument calendar lists the case for argument that day, and audio of the argument is now posted, reflecting that C.B. is asking the appellate panel to reverse the district court’s grant of summary judgment and to adopt a less restrictive understanding of what counts as hotel “participation” and knowledge under the TVPRA’s civil beneficiary provision.