By Tom Hals
Feb 20 (Reuters) - The owner of the stricken Carnival
Triumph cruise ship was hit by a lawsuit seeking class action
status for stranding more than 3,000 passengers for five days on
a ship without electricity or adequate sanitation.
Carnival Corp should be held liable for physical and
emotional anguish inflicted on the passengers as well as
punitive damages, according to the lawsuit by Matt and Melissa
Crusan. The lawsuit was filed on Monday in U.S. federal court in
Miami.
The Triumph was towed into Mobile, Alabama, on Thursday,
four days after a fire knocked out the ship's power while it was
off the coast of Mexico.
The lawsuit alleged the world's largest cruise company
failed to provide a seaworthy ship. In addition, "motivated
solely by financial gain" Carnival negligently brought the
Triumph to Mobile, where it would be repaired, rather than a
closer Mexican port. That decision extended the trip by 350
miles (560 km), the plaintiffs said.
Passengers were exposed to disease as sewage and "human
waste sloshed around the vessel as the vessel listed while
drifting and/or while under tow," according to the lawsuit.
Carnival does not comment on pending litigation, said
company spokesman Vance Gulliksen.
The lawsuit seeks to represent all of the passengers on the
stricken cruise.
The complaint said that the Triumph ticket limits
passengers' rights to bring a class action, but that provision
should be voided by Carnival's negligence in using an
unseaworthy vessel and not towing the ship to the nearest port.
Carnival has offered Triumph passengers $500, reimbursement
for their transportation and many onboard costs, and given them
a credit toward a future cruise equal to the amount they paid
for the Triumph vacation.
Attorney Charles Lipcon, of Lipcon, Margulies, Alsina &
Winkleman in Miami, which filed the lawsuit, said in an email
that if the compensation was offered with no strings attached,
passengers should accept it and still consider suing.
Jim Walker, who specializes in representing cruise ship
passengers, told Reuters last week that the compensation offer
was probably more than Triumph passengers would likely win in
court. Walker is not involved in this suit and said he is
unlikely to bring a case.
"We have a different opinion and think that passengers can
do much better than the Carnival offer," said Lipcon.
The class action lawsuit is at least the second by a Triumph
passenger. On Friday, Cassie Terry of Brazoria County, Texas,
sued Carnival.
Like the Crusans, Terry sued for the conditions aboard the
ship, which lacked working toilets and proper ventilation.
The case is Matt Crusan and Melissa Crusan v Carnival Corp,
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, No. 13-20592.
Follow us on Twitter @ReutersLegal | Like us on Facebook