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For years courts have denied the ability of injured crew members’ spouses to bring lawsuits for loss of consortium against ship owners. Given the recent Supreme Court decision of Townsend v. Atlantic Sounding, courts are allowing spouses of hurt seafarers to bring lawsuits to recover damages caused by shipboard accidents. The implication of these cases may be more far reaching than only crew member lawsuits. As shown below, the logic of this line of cases may be applied to allow loss of consortium claims by spouses of cruise ship passengers against negligent cruise lines.

On June 19, 2011, Brais & Brais issued a press release on our representation of the family of John Gavigan who, on February 5, 2011, contracted Norovirus aboard the Celebrity cruise ship Solstice and died in his cabin. In January and February of this year the Solstice came back to port with a Norovirus outbreak on multiple occasions. Instead of taking the ship out of service for a complete sanitation, the cruise line decided to keep the ship sailing. Gavigan case alleged Celebrity failed to adequately clean the vessel and warn of the outbreak as well as failed to warn of the significant health risks to elderly people associated with contracting Norovirus at sea. This case resolved in a confidential settlement.

Brais & Brais’ maritime attorneys have the privilege to represent former crewmember Edward Florian in a lawsuit against Carnival Cruises. Mr. Florian injured his back while working as a galley steward aboard the Carnival Valor requiring surgery. Maritime law obligates an employer such as Carnival Cruises to promptly provide an injured crewmember competent medical care as well as a daily living stipend until the crewmember’s medical condition plateaus. This is called the maintenance and cure obligation. So great is a maritime employer’s obligation to provide maintenance and cure, the Supreme Court recently held when a maritime employer fails to promptly pay all owed benefits, a crewmember may seek punitive damages.

Brais & Brais’ attorneys have filed a wrongful death case in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida for the drowning of Leonardo Rosales. On October 20, 2010, Enrique Pitta of Oakland Park, Florida invited Mr. Rosales aboard his boat to go diving for lobster. The method of diving selected was not the traditional scuba tank, but, a Brownie’s Third Lung Hookah System. The Hookah System supplies air to the diver from above the surface by a gas powered motor. Mr. Rosales was unfamiliar with the Hookah System and drowned leaving behind a wife and two small children.

Cruise ships today are more reminiscent of floating carnivals than a means of transporting passengers from one port to another. Modern cruise lines spend millions of dollars advertising the ship (not the ports of call) as the vacation destination. Royal Caribbean’s and Celebrity’s cruise ships have FlowRiders, zip lines, rockwalls and ice skating rinks. Norwegian’s (NCL) and Carnival’s ships have water parks and slides. Cruise lines charge passengers additional fees to participate in these attractions in the increasing effort to make money. They, however, want to avoid liability if someone gets hurt. In an attempt to maximize profit and limit liability exposure, cruise lines started requiring passengers to sign releases of liability or waivers before participating in these attractions. In a blow to the cruise lines, the Federal Appellate Court for the Eleventh Circuit (the court that reviews decisions from the Florida, Georgia and Alabama Federal trial courts) recently held such liability waivers are unenforceable.