Cruise ship injuries are rare, but certainly make an already pricy vacation ever more expensive. Fortunately, accidents that were caused by the cruise ship or its staff may be repaid to the victims, if they take their case to court in a personal injury lawsuit.
Family Asks for Medical Damages, Legal Fees after Accident at Carnival Water Park
On January 4, a family filed a complaint against Carnival requesting a trial by jury to seek damages, medical expenses, legal fees, and other relief. The family alleged that Carnival was responsible for their child’s dental injuries because he was allowed to play in an unattended water park on one of their cruise ships on June 20, 2016.
Here’s what happened: allegedly, there was a padlock to secure the water park, but it was not properly secured. Because of this, the child was able to get in when no one was around to watch him. While the child was playing, they were injured by another person and suffered damage to three teeth. The child allegedly needed surgery for his injuries.
Why is the family bringing this case to court? If the child had been playing around a supervised and open water park during the accident, they might not have a case on their hands. However, since the cruise’s staff failed to keep the water park locked, or supervised, the cruise line could be found guilty of negligence.
What Is Negligence?
In order to win a personal injury case, you will have to prove to a judge or jury that the defendant was guilty of behavior that directly caused your injuries and financial damages.
Negligence is defined by the Legal Information Institute as “A failure to behave with the level of care that someone of ordinary prudence would have exercised under the same circumstances. The behavior usually consists of actions, but can also consist of omissions when there is some duty to act.”
In the case of Carnival, the plaintiffs could argue that a reasonable level of care includes securing the locks of the unsupervised water park in order to keep children from playing without a lifeguard or staff member.
Common examples of negligence on a cruise ship include:
- Staff failing to clean water or foreign substances on floors where guests can slip and fall
- Thresholds in doorways without proper warning or caution signs
- Malpractice committed by doctors employed by the cruise line
- Chefs improperly cooking meat that could spread harmful bacteria to guests
- Failing to fix a broken staircase
Do You Have a Lawsuit on Your Hands?
If any of the above examples sound familiar, or you suffered an injury that was not your fault while on a cruise, you may be a victim of a cruise line’s negligence. If you can prove through legal action that the cruise was negligent, you may receive compensation for your medical bills, legal fees, or other damages that you suffered due to your injury or accident.
Don’t get us wrong, proving negligence against a cruise line isn’t easy. Large companies like cruise lines tend to fight back hard when negligence lawsuits are filed. That is why you need a legal team that has successfully handled cruise ship injury cases before and understands how they work and what you need to do to prove negligence. Contact a Florida cruise injury as soon as possible to start building your case and fighting for financial relief.
About the Author
Andrew Winston is a partner at the personal injury law firm of Winston Law. For over 20 years, he has successfully represented cruise victims who have suffered all kinds of injuries and illnesses due to negligence. He has been recognized for excellence in the representation of injured clients by admission to the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, is AV Preeminent Rated by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, enjoys a 10.0 rating by AVVO as a Top Personal Injury Attorney, has been selected as a Florida “SuperLawyer” from 2011-2017 – an honor reserved for the top 5% of lawyers in the state – and was voted as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Florida and to Florida Trend’s “Legal Elite.”
