Resort Injury Lawyer Blog

Cruise Ship Tragedy Sparks Regulatory Review

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:48:50 -0500

© Elena Dremova | Dreamstime.com

The Costa Concordia shipwreck tragedy in the Mediterranean has sparked a review of safety standards on cruise ships. The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee announced in a press release that it will conduct a hearing in February to review cruise ship safety including operating standards and crew training requirements.

Committee Chairman John L. Mica (R-FL) said in the release that "The Costa Concordia tragedy is a wakeup call for the United States and international maritime organizations to carefully review and make certain we have in place all appropriate standards to ensure passengers' safety on cruise ships." He said that "The Committee will review the events of this specific incident, current safety measures and training requirements set by law and international maritime transportation agreements to ensure this mode of transportation remains as safe as possible."

Mica stated that the tragedy appeared to be preventable and the hearing is an effort to prevent such tragedies in the future. Current U.S. laws and regulations will be reviewed in relation to vessels at U.S. ports and in U.S. waters but they do not necessarily apply to Americans cruising internationally. The United Nations Agency that regulates international shipping, the International Maritime Organization, will review the details of the recent tragedy and the current international maritime safety treaty, the Safety of Life at Sea Convention.

Shipwreck Lawsuits Cruise into Miami

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:00:20 -0500

Two U.S. law firms are filing class-action lawsuits against Costa Cruises, asking for at least $160,000 per passenger involved in last week's resort tort disaster, according to the BBC. The shipwreck left 11 people dead, hundreds injured, and 21 still missing.

Owned by Miami-based Carnival Group, Costa Cruises blamed the captain of the Costa Concordia for veering off course and crashing into a rock, causing the ship to half sink. The captain has denied the charges of suspected manslaughter, for which he remains under house arrest.

A civil claim is being filed against him in Italy while lawsuits will reportedly be filed in Miami this week against Costa Cruises, with claimants seeking compensation for "continued medical care, loss of earnings as well as the psychological impact they had suffered while trying to get off the ship," reports the BBC. Liability against the company will point to regular route deviations in the past, lack of safeguards on board, and the alarm system.

More than 100 claimants are expected to seek two to three times the minimum claim and some as much as one million Euros.

Costa Cruises is currently focused on managing the immediate urgencies of the disaster but a spokesperson stated that the company has asked passengers to detail their expenses so that they can be reimbursed. Rescue efforts for the missing continue with caution as the ship continues to sink. Fuel tanks are full and could potentially rupture, contaminating the Mediterranean Sea and shorelines.

Shipwreck Death Toll Rises, Captain Caught on Tape

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:24:56 -0500

One week following the Titanic-like cruise ship disaster in the Mediterranean, the death toll reports have risen to 11, with 21 people still unaccounted for. The search for the missing has been paused several times due to the dangers of the ship's instability atop the rock where it sits half submerged. The magnitude of the resort tort lawsuits to follow is yet to be seen.

The Coast Guard transcript of the exchange between the Guard and the ship's captain was released to the press and revealed a contradiction from the captain's original public statement following the accident. The day of the incident, the captain stated that reports of him abandoning ship before the evacuation was complete were untrue. He stated that he and his officers were the last to leave the ship.

Translations of the transcript vary. Among the pieces published by The Washington Post:

(Captain) Schettino insisted he was on a rescue boat coordinating efforts.

"Captain," the coast guard officer interrupted him. "This is an order. Now I am in command. You have declared the abandoning of a ship. I am in charge. There are already dead bodies."

"How many?" Schettino asked.

"You're the one who should be telling me that," the officer said. "What do you want to do? Go home? It's dark and you want to go home? Go back up and tell me what can be done: how many people there are and what they need."

"Alright," Schettino said. "I'm going."

Among the pieces published by Reuters:

Captain to Coast Guard: "I am on a life boat of rescue, I am under here. I am not going anywhere. I am here."

Coast Guard to Captain: "What are you doing captain?"

Captain to Coast Guard: "I am here to coordinate the rescue ..." (Coast Guard interrupts him)

Coast Guard to captain: "What are you coordinating there! Go on board! Coordinate the rescue from on board! Are you refusing?"

Captain to Coast Guard: "No, I am not refusing."

Coast Guard to captain: "Are you refusing to go on board, captain? Tell me the reason why you are not going back on board."

Captain to Coast Guard: " (inaudible)... there is a another life boat ... " (Coast Guard interrupts him again)

Coast Guard (screaming) to Captain: "You go back on board! That is an order! There is nothing else for you to consider. You have sounded the 'abandon ship'. Now I am giving the orders. Go back on board. Is that clear? Don't you hear me?"

Captain to Coast Guard: "I am going on board."

Cruise Ship Disaster Recalls Titanic Panic

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:41:52 -0500

A cruise ship in the Mediterranean carrying more than 4,200 passengers and crew struck an underwater rock, ran aground and capsized over the weekend, leaving six people dead, more than a dozen missing, and the ship half sunken into the Sea.

The dramatic cruise ship crash also left thousands stranded, after passengers reportedly leapt off the ship and swam for shore, recalling scenes from the Titanic cruise ship disaster now immortalized on film.

Passengers reported blackouts, crawling through dark hallways, plates and dishes crashing, desperate attempts to reach lifeboats, and general chaos. Some were evacuated by helicopter, others rescued by ferry, and many took shelter on a nearby island in schools, hotels and a church, overrunning the tiny island of 1,500 residents.

A couple from Homestead, Florida and a couple from Aventura, Florida were on board, and survived.

LIABILITY

The resort torts seem to be stacking up, with reports of delays in lowering lifeboats and lack of evacuation instructions, according to MSNBC. Liability is also looming from a reported lack of evacuation drills before the ship sailed, no head counts once in the life boats, and an "'unapproved, unauthorized' deviation in course" by the captain, according to BBC News.

The chairman and chief executive of Costa Cruises, owned by Carnival Corporation, pointed blame at human error by the ship's captain, who veered off course and sailed too close to the island. The captain denied wrongdoing according to the BBC report, saying the rock that the ship struck was not marked on his nautical chart. He also denied claims that he abandoned ship before the evacuation was complete.

CNN reported today that the captain "faces possible charges of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, and abandoning ship while passengers were still on board."

Cruise ships are not merely large boats, they are virtual floating cities. These maritime hotels, however, can lack fundamental safety policies, protocols, and procedures to protect passengers from harm. They generally fly foreign flags, so they do not have to comply with United States laws. Additionally, antiquated laws and contractual language limiting passenger rights and remedies can put travelers in a precarious position and require aggressive litigation.

Teenage Girl Reportedly Raped on Cruise Ship

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:43:04 -0500

© Maigi | Dreamstime.com

The Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act signed into United States law in July 2010 seems to be firmly in place, not that it can totally prevent crimes or personal injury.

As the Act requires, Royal Caribbean recently reported an alleged rape aboard one of its ships to the FBI and BSO, and allowed both to investigate the ship and port. The ship's 'guest care team' also offered the alleged victim assistance including medical care and counseling, according to a statement from the cruise line's manager of Global Corporate Communications, as reported in the Sun Sentinel.

The Sentinel article says that a 15-year-old girl from Iowa said she was lured from a teen dance club on board to a private room, where a 15-year-old boy said there would be a party. Instead, she said, there was only another man there, and the two of them raped her.

Both males live in Brazil, are being held in Broward, and appeared in court last Wednesday. The elder, a 20-year-old, was accused of one count of committing a lewd and lascivious act, ordered not leave the tri-county area and denied access to his or a replacement passport. The younger was charged with lewd and lascivious battery and held at the Broward Juvenile Assessment Center.

The International Cruise Victims Association (ICV) represents victims of crime on cruise ships, their families and friends, and individuals concerned about the problems of victimization and disappearances on cruise ships. The organization advocates for legislative reform to protect passengers from crimes and increase the rights of victims of crimes that do occur on cruise ships, and provides support to victims of crimes occurring on cruise ships.

The National Association for Victims of Crimes and the Rape, Assault, and Incest National Network (RAINN) have joined ICV in the effort to promote reform to the Cruise Line Industry.

The National Crime Victim Bar Association is a network of attorneys and allied professionals dedicated to facilitating civil actions brought by crime victims. Crime victims may be able to file civil lawsuits against perpetrators and responsible third parties for the damages the victims suffered as a result of the crime. Personal injury attorney John Elliott Leighton serves on the Advisory Board of the National Crime Victim Bar Association.

DWD: Fatal Texting Crash Yields $8.8 Million Jury Award

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:54:48 -0500

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that driving while distracted contributes to one in every four car crashes. By some estimates, in as many as half of all crashes (there were six million last year), cell phone use was involved.

A slight departure from Resort Torts, my campaign against DWD -"Driving While Distracted" - is an issue I am passionate about.

It's encouraging that a jury has awarded the family of a woman killed in a car crash - believed to be caused by a texting driver - $8.8 million. But much is left to be done to keep peoples' eyes on the road and not distracted with the myriad electronic devices they carry and those that are even built into the car.

The Miami Herald reported that during the 60-day legislative session that begins this month, Florida legislators might consider a ban on texting while driving. Such bans are already enacted in 35 states. The current proposal, described by the Herald as "pretty mild," would make text-driving a secondary offense, meaning that a citation for it could only be issued in conjunction with another offense such as speeding or reckless driving. The ban would also apply to typing emails and instant messages. The first offense would render a $30 fine, and the second within five years would cost $60 and three points.
In the case of the $8.8 million verdict, text-driving appears to have again cost someone their life. In that incident, the victim was a mother of two young children. Her vehicle was struck by a 17-year-old who was driving between 61 and 69 miles per hour in a 40 mph zone, and weaving through traffic. An outgoing text on his phone was recorded two minutes before the paramedics were notified of the accident. The teenager was given a $2,000 fine and charged with speeding and reckless driving, but not vehicular homicide.

The National Transportation Board recently recommended that the Federal Government ban cell phone and all texting device use while driving. People tend to agree. Surveys reveal increasingly more people admitting to texting while driving, but the vast majority of them also say it should be illegal.

Resort Evacuated After Explosion, 1 Injury Reported

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:27:30 -0500

Naples Bay Resort evacuated 24 hotel guests and 20 employees from its premises after an explosion occurred around 9am Thursday.

The Naples Daily News reported that an electrical worker installing meters at the Resort suffered first-, second- and possibly third-degree burns to his upper body from an electrical flash fire. The cause of the explosion is unknown and is being investigated.

The Naples Fire Chief stated that the electrician's life was saved only because he was wearing a face shield, eye protection and a fire-resistant shirt. The fireball was reportedly hot enough to vaporize nearby metal. A hotel corridor sustained smoke damage. The electrician was a subcontractor for FPL. Damages were estimated at $20,000.

Until the investigation is complete, negligence and/or liability for the explosion and its cause could only be speculative.

Related Resort Tort case law:

• In fulfilling its duty to maintain its premises in a reasonably safe condition, "a landowner must conduct inspections appropriate for the premises involved."
Yuniter v. A & A Edgewater of Florida, Inc., 707 So.2d 763 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998)

Proposed Casinos Shake up Florida's Resort Industry, and Legislators

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:25:10 -0500

© Artem Merzlenko | Dreamstime.com

"Even among gambling friendly senators" there is mounting opposition to the massive destination resort casino plans proposed for South Florida, despite projections of an economic windfall.

A majority of the Senate Regulated Industries Committee has asked for significant changes to the current bill proposed for casino expansion legislation in the state. The Committee is known as being open to casino expansion, according to the Miami Herald, but is not yet willing to pass the current proposal.

The Florida Chamber of Commerce is lobbying against the bill on behalf of Disney and the Central Florida theme park and tourism industry.

The facilities in question are three $2 billion resort casinos in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties that could bring a reported $1.3 billion to $2.6 billion in annual gaming. The figure is based on 6.6 million to 14 million annual visitors to the resorts. The entire state of Florida currently sees around 82 million visitors annually.

The increase in visitors and resort activities would likely to give rise to a substantial increase in Resort Torts. If built, the initial proposed hotel alone is expected to have 5,200 rooms, making it the largest in the country.

The Senate sponsor of the casino resort bill, Ellyn Bogdanoff, estimates that 31% of the new gaming would compromise existing casinos, primarily the Seminole Hard Rock casinos. Casino cases in Florida currently hinge on the sovereign immunity of the Native American community that runs the facilities under their land grants. They cannot be sued and a plaintiff must go to tribal court. It is important to note, however, that not all areas of a casino location are necessarily tribe owned. Some of the shops and restaurants are "concessions" that are independently owned outside the tribe and can be sued outside tribal court. Common areas around a tribal casino are still considered tribal owned.

Florida already has a built-in base of resort tort victims because of the vast tourism industry throughout the state. Tourists are here to have a good time and relax, which can also mean letting their guard down in unfamiliar surroundings where alcohol and late nights prevail. Resort Torts can involve a wide range of cases, including hotel and motel safety; cruise ship litigation; pleasure boating and jet ski incidents; amusement, aquatic, diving and swimming incidents; foreign travel and medical emergencies; gaming and casinos; commercial and general aviation; rental car liability; moped, bicycle and motorcycle safety; buses and tour guides; travel industry liability for crime victims; medical care provided to vacationers, and many more.

American Airlines Sued for Deadly Passenger Poisoning

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 11:05:24 -0500

© Ifeelstock | Dreamstime.com

A man's fatal heart attack was allegedly induced by bad chicken served on an American Airlines flight. The airline is now being sued by his wife.

In a flight from Barcelona to New York, the couple ate a meal onboard American Airlines. The man had the chicken and "became pale, experienced 'sharp stomach cramps' and was suddenly very thirsty" according to a report of the incident in The Miami New Times.

Despite his condition, the couple boarded their connecting flight to Miami, where he experienced nauseousness, shortness of breath and finally a heart attack. An emergency landing in Norfolk, Virginia was too late to save the man's life.

Lawsuits were filed against American Airlines and Sky Chefs with a claim that the chicken was poisoned with the bacteria C. perfringens. The suit also alleged the airline's negligence in allowing the man to board the Miami flight, failing to provide medical attention, and delaying the emergency landing.

LSG Sky Chefs claims not to have catered that flight and said it would file a motion to remove its name from the case defendants.

Resort Torts are cases of civil liability for negligent or criminal acts that arise out of a resort, vacation or recreational setting. These can involve aspects of hotel and motel safety, cruise ship litigation, pleasure boating and jet ski incidents, amusement, aquatic, diving and swimming incidents, foreign travel and medical emergencies, gaming and casinos, aviation (commercial and general), rental car liability, moped, bicycle and motorcycle safety, buses and tour guides, travel industry liability for crime victims, and medical care provided to vacationers.

3 Dead, 2 Injured in Key West Boat Races

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:31:37 -0500

Final Tally: 3 dead, 2 hospitalized with injuries in the Key West Super Boat World Championships.

Boating accidents are not uncommon in Florida, where tourists and residents alike enjoy nearly 1,200 miles of coastline, 7,700 lakes larger than 10 acres, and more than 11,000 miles of rivers, streams and waterways. Unfortunately, residents and visitors alike are also killed and injured as a result of water skiing, jet skiing, pleasure boating, and many other kinds of boating activities.

Last Wednesday, the opening day of the Key West Super Boat World Championships began with a bad omen for the multi-day event. Two of the racers, both visiting Florida from Missouri, were killed when their 46-foot Skater with four 1,200-horsepower engines crashed in Key West Harbor after the boat barrel-rolled and landed upside down, reported the Miami Herald. Despite being pulled onto a rescue boat by paramedics who jumped out of helicopters in the rescue attempt, the two men were pronounced dead at the Lower Keys Medical Center that afternoon.

On Friday, another racer was killed when his 28-foot boat with twin 850-horsepower engines rolled near an offshore turn. He was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami and died early Saturday morning.

© Joop Kleuskens | Dreamstime.com

The event closed on Sunday with two more racers suffering injuries. Two men from New Jersey racing a 38-foot boat with twin 750-horsepower engines smacked their boat into a wave. One suffered a torn ear and possible concussion and was evacuated to Jackson Memorial Hospital. The other was treated at Lower Keys Medical Center. So far it is believed that neither men suffered life-threatening injuries.

In 2007 there were 77 fatalities caused by boating accidents in Florida alone, which led the entire country. With over 1 million registered vessels in Florida, there were over 650 reported boating accidents resulting in injury, death or serious damage. It is estimated that there are another 350,000 non-registered boats using Florida's waterways.

Resort Injury Report: Lack of Safety Protocols Led to Disney Monorail Accident

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:35:45 -0500

© Tom Dowd | Dreamstime.com

Federal investigators concluded after 2.5 years that the Disney monorail collision that killed a 21-year-old resort employee was caused in part by a lack of adequate safety protocols.

In a 14-page report, the National Transportation Safety Board cited employee errors as the primary causes of the accident, but added that "Walt Disney World Resort's lack of standard operating procedures leading to an unsafe practice when reversing trains" was also a factor in the accident.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration had previously cited Disney with four safety violations in December 2009 upon concluding its investigation of the accident, and fined the resort $35,200.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that "an employee in the monorail's maintenance shop, which controls the system's track switches, failed to properly position the switch beam. It also found that the manager who was temporarily serving as the monorail system's coordinator -- relaying commands between the maintenance shop and the train drivers -- was not in the system's control tower during the track-switch procedure, where he could have seen that the track had not been properly aligned."

Disney's policies, however, did not require the central coordinator to be station in the control tower when directing monorail movements, nor that the employee in the monorail shop verify the beam realignment. Employees were also not required to follow an operating guide with regards to moving from the front cab of the train to the back cab before driving in reverse.

TRAGEDY KILLS 2 ABOARD TOURIST DUCK BOAT

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 11:49:54 -0500

A deadly combination of factors in a Philadelphia waterway has left two tourists dead, a father of two young children jailed for a year, and several lawsuits still pending.

On the day of the incident, the operator of a 33-foot "Ride the Ducks" sightseeing boat anchored in a shipping channel of the Delaware River after detecting smoke and suspecting an onboard fire, cited CNN International. There were 35 passengers and two crew members on board.

Video footage shown on The Today Show revealed the shocking footage of a towed 250-foot sludge barge running over and submerging the tourist boat in a matter of seconds. Amazingly, only two tourists died in the accident.

The pilot of the tugboat towing the barge has been sentenced to one year and one day in prison and three years of supervised release for his role in the incident, after teary pleading by himself and his wife in court for leniency with the potential four-year sentence. The pilot admitted he was distracted by his cell phone and laptop prior to the collision, in part due to a call from his wife regarding complications that morning during their 6-year-old's eye surgery.

Litigation is still pending with K-Sea Transportation of East Brunswick, New Jersey and Ride the Ducks of Norcross, Georgia. Both companies have asked the federal government to limit their liability in the incident, according to the CNN report.

An NTSB report showed several people involved were on cell phones or computers at the time of the accident. Driving While Distracted now carries new meaning. CNN reported that an NTSB representative said the incident was "another tragic example of the deadliness of distraction."

While this incident occurred on a waterway, cell phone distraction while driving has been an issue of increasing concern for years. As of December 2008, there were 271 million cell phones in use in the United States, representing 84% of the country's population. Drivers are increasingly distracting themselves by chatting, texting and emailing while on the road, often resulting in dangerous accidents. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that driving while distracted contributes to one in every four car crashes. By some estimates, in as many as half of all crashes (there were six million last year), cell phone use was involved.

The widespread awareness of this problem has prompted government concern and states are now addressing the issue legislatively. Some states and municipalities have acted to ban texting while driving and/or driving with a handheld device, while six states - including Florida - have laws that prohibit local jurisdictions from enacting restrictions. In other states, localities are allowed to ban cell phone use or texting while driving. In October 2009, President Obama issued an order banning all 4.5 million federal employees from texting while driving.

Resort Torts... And the Courts. 5 CLE Credits. NOV. 3, 2011

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 10:43:08 -0500

REGISTER NOW for a symposium on the trends and developments for vacation, resort and recreational liability matters.

John Elliott Leighton, Circuit Judge Victoria Platzer and defense trial attorney Rolando Diaz
will discuss civil liability for negligent or intentional acts that arise out of a resort, vacation or recreation setting, as well as tactics for prosecuting such matters. Case law will be discussed as well as relevant statues, codes and ordinances.

Approved by The Florida Bar for 5.0 general CLE credits

Continental Breakfast Included

Thursday, November 3, 2011

8:30 a.m.

The Bankers Club of Miami

2 South Biscayne Boulevard

Click HERE to Register

Click HERE to learn more about sponsorship opportunities and benefits.

RESORT TORTS: Not Just for Tourists

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:33:03 -0500

Resort Torts are cases of civil liability for negligent or criminal acts in a resort, vacation or recreational setting. They can encompass a variety of legal cases, revealing that tourists, business travelers and locals alike are all exposed to risk while traveling, vacation, or engaging in resort or pleasure activities... including NIGHTCLUBS.

The Sun Sentinel reported this week that a nightclub in Broward County, advertised from Fort Pierce to Miami, is a regular stop for Sheriff's deputies and city paramedics, for illegal drugs being sold and used, and for teenagers who have passed out, overdosed, or having seizures.

Pompano Beach Mayor Lamar Fisher said he receives weekly calls about the facility, from parents complaining about it. He wants the club's electronic dance music shows at Club Cinema - which pull in more than 2,000 people - shut down.

The Sun Sentinel article quoted the owner of the production company responsible for many of the shows at Club Cinema as saying that "Anything to do with electronic music, there's going to be drugs."

From April to September this year, 20 people at Club Cinema were treated by city fire-rescue crews - 11 of them under age 18 and 6 of them 18-20-year-olds.

Mayor Fisher said during a commission meeting this week: "One of these times we're going to lose a life and it's uncalled for."

RESORT INJURY REPORT: 12 Injured at Orlando Parks in Q3

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 17:10:11 -0500

From seizure to broken bone, head injury to loss of an eyeball, twelve visitors to Orlando experienced first-hand during Q3 2011 the dangers that lurk in parks designed for amusement. Walt Disney World reported the most injuries for Q3, totaling seven.

Resort Torts can include a wide variety of legal cases but they all have one thing in common: Tourists, business travelers and locals alike are all exposed to risk while traveling, vacationing or engaging in resort and leisure activities.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, new filings with the state include the following injuries reported at Orlando theme parks:

Islands of Adventure
• A man from Puerto Rico had to have an eye removed after something stuck and lacerated it while he was riding the Dragon Challenge roller coaster in Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure. According to the Sentinel, the description in the report Universal provided the state was "eye discomfort".

Walt Disney World
• An 18-year-old woman lost consciousness and experienced seizure-like symptoms in Castaway Creek.
• A woman injured an ankle on Mayday Falls.
• A woman lost consciousness after riding Mission: Space.
• A 16-year-old girl had a seizure on Star Tours.
• A woman fell and broke her leg at Haunted Mansion.
• Another woman fell and broke her leg on Prince Charming's Regal Carousel.

Wet 'n' Wild, owned by NBCUniversal
• An 8-year-old boy suffered a head injury on Storm.

Amusement Park Injury Reporting
In 2001, The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), the amusement park industry trade group, began producing its own injuries-per-ride-cycle figure for amusement rides (roller coasters, Ferris wheels, etc.) operated at fixed site locations. Their methodology is that IAAPA asks its members each year to report the number of riders they've processed through the turnstiles of their mechanical amusement rides, and the number of customers they know of who were treated by a doctor for injuries caused by any of those rides. They then come up with a number of patron rides taken each year, and an aggregated count of ride-related injuries parks reported knowing about.

This reporting system does not collect any information useful for analysis of accident patterns or development of prevention strategies. No information is collected that would identify the ride, the park, the age/size of patrons involved, the type of accident, or the injuries sustained.

With 82 million visitors each year, Florida and its many tourist attractions give rise to Resort Torts - cases of civil liability for negligent or criminal in a resort, vacation or recreational setting. Click here to contact a board certified civil trial specialist with 26 years of experience representing victims of negligence in personal injury matters.