Debi Chalik listened in horror as Vice President Mike Pence announced at a news conference that 21 passengers aboard the Grand Princess had tested positive for coronavirus.
On March 9, five days after the cruise ship announced that a man on a previous voyage had died of the virus, Chalik sued on their behalf. The Weissbergers became the first cruise passengers to file suit related to coronavirus. Story continuesChalik has signed 34 clients, including two passengers from the Ruby Princess in Australia, which saw hundreds of COVID-19 cases.
“Our response throughout this process has focused on the well-being of our guests and crew within the parameters dictated to us by the government agencies involved and the evolving medical understanding of this new illness,” the statement said. They pointed to the ill-fated Carnival Triumph, which lost power and plumbing in the Gulf of Mexico in 2013, leaving passengers stewing in human feces for several days. Most lawsuits went nowhere, attorneys said, and the ones that did resulted in small financial awards.
'Cruise line tickets are legal works of art'Like many industries, cruise lines are not insurers of passenger safety – meaning they’re not 100% responsible for keeping passengers in good health. They do have a duty to take reasonable steps to keep their passengers from harm. Big cruise lines such as Carnival, the owner of Princess Cruises and more than half of the cruise market share, limit those circumstances and what is reasonable before passengers board the ship.
Other stipulations allow the cruise line to choose the U.S. court where claims can be filed and impose a one-year statute of limitations for filing claims – much shorter than most states’ cutoff for similar claims. Holding the company liable, especially for passengers who did not contract the virus, may be a Sisyphean task.
"At the time, the outbreak was generally believed to be secluded to China, and later, parts of Asia. There was no WHO restriction on global travel other than China," the statement said. Emotional injury claims did not make the cut, and Aronfeld envisions the same playing out for Princess cruise passengers.
Death on the High Seas One of the most controversial pieces of maritime law is the Death on the High Seas Act. “So grandma and grandpa go on this cruise and they get sick and they both die at sea,” said New Orleans attorney and maritime law expert Paul Sterbcow. “Their claim against the boat – to the extent to which they have one for failure to take reasonable care – is grounded in the Death of the High Seas Act, and the kids recover funeral and burial expenses, and that’s it.”
Aronfeld said the morbid truth is that the cases of family members of those who died on the ship while at sea probably will be worth substantially less than a case of someone who died on land. In April, Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., introduced legislation that would allow a broader range of damages to be covered. Titled “Hammer’s Law,” the bill is named after Fischer’s constituents Larry and Christy Hammer, who died after a fire broke out on a Peruvian river cruise in 2016. The Peruvian navy found numerous safety issues on the ship that led to the fatal fire, but the Hammers’ survivors were unable to recover anything for their emotional damages.
The hearing was called by the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee after a fire in September on the Conception in California left 34 people dead.
Get creative to hold those accountable if negligence is unfortunately found.
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