Maritime Law Blog

Miami lawyers Keith Brais & Richard Rusak obtained a ruling from a Federal Court finding a cruise line can be held responsible for a rape caused by the over service of alcohol. The complaint failed in the Southern District of Florida alleges a passenger participated in a Norwegian Cruise Line organized pub crawl which occurred on the cruise ship NORWEGIAN SUN. After the pub crawl, the passenger remained at the last bar to have additional drinks with some of the other pub crawl participants. The plaintiff alleges she became intoxicated from the drinks served on the cruise ship. Court papers reveal the passenger walked to a public ladies room located near a café. While in a stall, a man opened the door, spun her around and raped her. Affidavits filed in the case assert due to her intoxicated state she was unable to fend off her attacker.

Norwegian Cruise Line filed a motion for summary judgment arguing the Florida "dram shop" statute applied to the service of alcohol aboard its cruise ships. The Florida dram shop statute shields companies from liability for injuries and damages caused by their service of alcohol except when the person served is under the age of 21 or the person served is known to be "habitually addicted" to alcohol.

The Federal Court rejected the application of the Florida dram shop statute. Instead, it followed the Florida state appellate court's legal holding in Hall v. Royal Caribbean Cruises which found the statute is contrary to the uniformity of maritime law. This case solidifies the maritime law that a cruise line has a duty to exercise reasonable care for its passengers including reasonable care in the service of alcohol. A copy of the Court's order can be found at this link.

A Miami Federal Judge ruled Norwegian Cruise Line owed as a matter of law the duty to warn passengers of the risk of being raped and/or sexually assaulted aboard their cruise ships when such criminal acts are foreseeable. In this case a female passenger from Texas alleged she was over served alcohol during and after a cruise organized drinking event. Court documents reveal she left the bar to utilize a public ladies restroom near the ship's cafe. The assault victim claims that while in the restroom stall, a man entered, spun her around and raped her.

Attorneys Keith Brais & Richard Rusak with Brais law filed a lawsuit in Miami, Florida on behalf of the cruise ship passenger as required by the Norwegian's cruise ticket. Alleged in the complaint is that the cruise line failed to warn her of the risk of being sexually assaulted and/or raped onboard the ship. The cruise line filed a motion requesting the court to find that it did not have a legal duty to warn of potential criminal acts such as rape. In a pair of orders denying summary judgment, the court found a cruise line under maritime law does have the legal to warn of the risk of foreseeable criminal acts, including rapes and sexual assaults, on its ship. The court then allowed the rape claim to proceed to trial. This is the first opinion of its kind nation wide.

The court's orders can be viewed at this link and this link.

Senad Djedovic, a former assistant cruise director for Norwegian Cruise Lines, pled guilty to possessing child pornography depicting a cruise passenger. The once NCL employee faces as much as 10 years in prison for having photos of an underage girl he had sex with on the NORWEGIAN STAR cruise ship.

Court records reveal the assistant cruise director had sex with a 16-year-old female passenger on the cruise ship after it departed for a seven day cruise from Tampa in January. A statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida reads, "After the minor departed the vessel, Djedovic began exchanging emails with her. In a series of emails spanning several weeks, Djedovic commented about her age and asked the minor to send him sexually explicit photos of herself". The NORWEGIAN STAR'S assistant cruise director showed the photographs to fellow crewmembers and told them she was a minor. The government's statement further revealed, "A search of Djedovic's personal computers revealed additional videos and images of minors engaging in explicit sexual activity.'' Dejedovic worked for Norwegian Cruise Lines from 2006 through early March 2012.

Child victims of sexual assault / exploitation aboard cruise ships have been handed a victory in Federal Court. Former U.S. Public Defender for the Southern District of Florida now U.S. District Court Judge, Kathleen Williams, ruled cruise lines can be held civilly liable for their crewmembers' violation of the certain federal laws designed to protect children. Originally enacted as part of The Child Abuse Victims' Right Act, Federal Statute 18 U.S.C. § 2255 provides minors who are victims of certain crimes involving sexual abuse, molestation, exploitation and other violent acts with a civil cause of action against those responsible. The federal statute, however, is silent as to whether only the perpetrator can be civilly penalized for such violent acts against children. Given the wording of the statute, an open legal question existed as to whether others responsible for the perpetrator's conduct may also be held liable under the statute.

The scope of this federal statute was tested in a case involving an alleged sexual assault of a 17 year old passenger aboard a cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean Cruises. The lawsuit alleges a cruise ship bartender served the minor dangerous amounts of alcohol then a cruise ship entertainer sexually assaulted and took sexually explicit photographs of her. The complaint filed in Miami, Florida set forth two counts against the cruise line under the statute. The lawsuit alleges the cruise line was vicariously liable for the actions of the crewmembers and such liability includes penalties under 18 U.S.C. § 2255.

The minor's lawyers argued since the language of the statute does not restrict its scope to only the perpetrator, it must encompass not only the perpetrator, but also the cruise line. Royal Caribbean argued the Court should not extend the scope of the Act to include anyone other than the perpetrator. Maritime law holds a cruise line strictly responsible for the intentional actions including sexual assaults, rapes and other violent acts of their crewmembers against passengers. The Court determined when enacting the statute Congress understood maritime law holds cruise ship operators strictly liable for their crewmembers' intentional acts against passengers. Armed with this knowledge or maritime law, Congress, in the Court's view, could have expressly limited the Act's scope to only the perpetrator, but, it did not. Therefore, the Court reasoned Congress intended to incorporate this maritime legal principle into the statute. Applying this statutory construction, the Court ruled 18 U.S.C. § 2255 provides children who were abused, exploited and/or victimized by a crewmember a direct claim against the cruise line in addition to existing maritime common (non-statutory) law.

This ruling has a significant impact upon maritime law. The statute states that any minor who is a victim of sexually assault, molestation, exploitation and other offenses can sue for compensatory damages and shall be deemed to have sustained damages of no less than $150,000 in value for each violation. Moreover, the statute provides the minor can receive attorneys' fees if he/she wins the lawsuit. This ruling changes the landscape of cruise law. Before this decision, there was no minimum recovery for child assault, rapes and exploitations perpetrated by crewmembers and attorneys' fees were not awardable.

As we reported in the article Men Charged for Passenger Rape aboard Royal Caribbean Ship a 20-year Brazilian man and a teenage boy are accused of raping a 15-year girl during a cruise aboard the Royal Caribbean ship Allure of the Seas. Arrest reports state the boy lured the girl to his cabin under false pretenses then both men raped her after refusing to allow her to leave. The Brazilian national, Luiz Scavone, entered a not guilty plea at his arraignment Monday, January 30, 2012 on the count of lewd and lascivious acts on a minor. Scavone and his teenaged accomplice (name withheld from the public) await trial for their alleged sexual assault in Broward County Circuit Court.

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida: Law enforcement arrested Luiz Scavone and a unnamed boy for the alleged rape of a teenaged passenger aboard the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Allure of the Seas. Court documents allege Sacvone and an unnamed teenage boy sexually assaulted a 15-year-old passenger on the last night of a 10 day cruise. Police charged the suspects with lewd and lascivious battery. Arrest papers state the boy met the victim at the cruise ship's teen dance club called Fuel and invited her to a party. The victim stated she thought she would be meeting friends, but when she arrived at the boy's cabin, Scavone, was there. The girl told them she had a curfew and tried to leave. Shortly thereafter both males raped her. The victim reported the sexual assault immediately to Royal Caribbean ship officials.

Scavone appeared before the Broward County Court on January 4th wherein bond was set at $10,000. The Judge also ordered he be outfitted with a GPS monitor if released from jail. Though bond was given, the Federal government placed Scavone on an immigration hold where he cannot be released from jail.

A cruise ship passenger who was sexually assaulted aboard the Norwegian Sky retained the maritime attorneys of Brais & Brais to represent her in a claim against Norwegian Cruise Lines. On the morning of April 11, 2011, a crew member approached Brais & Brais' client, made inappropriate remarks about her body, followed her around the cruise ship and forcibly perpetrated a sexual assault. The trauma of the attack is profound and long lasting. This is the second time in recent months a passenger retained Brais & Brais in regard to a sexual assault aboard a NCL cruise ship.

Cruise lines are strictly liable under maritime law for a sexual assault committed by a crew member against a passenger. This means the cruise line is responsible for damages even though it had no way of stopping the crew member from attacking the passenger. So strong is the law, courts have even held cruise lines responsible for passenger sexual assaults and rapes by crew members occurring on land at various ports of calls.

If you would like to learn more about law as it relates to cruise ship sexual assault, feel free to contact the Florida Bar Board Certified Maritime lawyers of Brais & Brais.

Brais & Brais' lawyers filed suit against NCL on behalf of a passenger who asserts she was raped and sexually assaulted in a public bathroom aboard the Norwegian Sun cruise ship. On April 11, 2011, the passenger (whose name is kept confidential due to the extreme nature of this lawsuit) was participating in an NCL organized "pub crawl" whereby crewmembers took her and other guests throughout the cruise ship stopping briefly to drink at various bars. The complaint alleges the bartenders aboard the ship encouraged passengers to drink above their limits. At one stop the passenger refused the drink offered, but the bartender insisted she drink, returned the beverage to her and stated "no wastee, no wastee." After the event, the passenger went to a public bathroom. While in a stall, she heard her name called. The next thing she knew, the door to the stall busted open, a man spun her around and raped her.

The complaint filed in Miami, Florida Federal Court alleges NCL created an unreasonably dangerous condition by feeding the passenger high amounts of alcohol to the point where she became a target for a sexual predator and was unable to defend herself. The complaint also alleges NCL breached its duty to the passenger by not escorting her to her cabin after the event or otherwise protect her while in a vulnerable condition.

It is terrible but rapes and sexual assaults occur on cruise ships with some regularity. In fact, during a short 5 month period 41 attacks were reported among the 25 major cruise lines. Such a high number is staggering. Based on these 41 reports, the FBI opened 13 investigative cases. According to the FBI, 5 of these cases were later closed due to victim reluctance to press charges or because the government declined to prosecute.
The problem of cruise ship rapes and sexual assaults was addressed by Congress with the passage of the Cruise Vessel Safety & Security Act. Signed into law on July 27, 2010, this Act requires, among other things, all cruise ship cabin doors be outfitted with peepholes, limited access to cabins by crewmembers, rape kits available at the ship's medical faculty and that all claims of rape and sexual assault be reported to the FBI.

Sexual assaults and rapes do happen to cruise passengers. In fact, there are several claims of rape and sexual assaults aboard cruise ships each year. This problem was so prolific that in 2010 Congress enacted the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act. This law is designed to enhance passenger safety aboard cruise ship and require cruise lines to report any rape or sexual assault of an American to the FBI.

American courts hold cruise lines strictly liable for sexual assaults and rapes perpetrated by crew members against passengers. This means a cruise lines are responsible for its passenger who are raped by a crew member despite a having a company no fraternization policy and even if the crew member was a model employee before the attack. It is easy to understand the cruise lines do not like this law and have attempted to find loopholes.

One such loophole cruise lines have attempted to avoid strict liability in sexual assault and rape cases is by applying an international treaty called the Athens Convention. In simple terms, the Athens Convention limits a cruise line's liability for a passenger's injury or death to approximately $71,000. This little known limitation is buried in the back of the passenger cruise tickets.

The good news is this international convention only applies where the ship does not touch a U.S. port for the entire cruise. Cruise lines cannot apply the Athens Convention to sexual assaults and rapes or any other type of claim occurring on cruises leaving from, returning to, or calling upon, United States ports. This leaves the convention theoretically applying to cruises purely touching foreign ports such as Mediterranean, Northern Europe and Asian cruises.

The limitation provisions of the Athens Convention, however, do not apply to what are known as intentional torts. An intentional tort is an action which was meant to cause harm. Specifically the Athens Convention states:

The carrier shall not be entitled to the benefit of the limits of liability [in the Convention], if it is proved that the damage resulted from an act or omission of the carrier done with the intent to cause such damage, or recklessly and with knowledge that such damage would probably result. Obviously, passenger sexual assaults and rapes can be only intentional.

The Southern District Court of Florida located in Miami applying the intentional tort exclusion of the Athens Convention recently found a cruise line cannot apply the limitations of the Convention in a case where a child claimed she was raped by a crewmember and falsely imprisoned by the cruise line. This ruling makes sense and is consistent with courts unwillingness to allow cruise lines escape liability for rapes and sexual assaults perpetrated on their passengers by crewmembers.

Cruise passengers should be on guard when they travel. However, if the unthinkable occurs, American courts have protected its citizen. The none application of the Athens Convention limitations is the latest situation where a court refused to allow a cruise line to avoid liability for a sexual attack by its crewmember against a passenger.

Sexual Assault / Rape on cruise ships, unfortunately, happen with regulatory. Much is written about "crew on passenger" attacks, but not much is written about "passenger on passenger" attacks. This article is meant to give a maritime lawyer's insight on a cruise line's legal obligations and liabilities for such horrific situations involving the over serving of alcohol.

Tough cruise lines are not strictly liable for sexual assaults / rapes perpetrated by fellow passengers, they still may be liable for such attacks. A cruise line's duty to protect passengers extends to harm caused by fellow passengers in certain situations. Courts require cruise lines give their passengers proper protection from danger. Concerning an attack by a fellow passenger, the legal test is whether the cruise line knew or should have known that danger from a fellow passenger existed or was to be reasonably apprehended and whether the injury could have been prevented. A situation where a cruise line can be held liable for the sexual assaults / rapes by passengers under this legal test is by the over serving of alcohol.

A major source of revenue on cruise ships comes from the sale of alcohol. There are several bars and lounges located throughout the cruise ships. Cruise lines like Norwegian (NCL) have on board "pub crawl" activities where passengers are hurriedly taken from bar to bar where they encouraged to drink a large amount of alcohol in a short period of time. Royal Caribbean recently announced the introduction of an "all-you-can-drink" package entitling passengers to drink unlimited amounts of alcohol for the price of $29 a day. By encouraging the consumption of high amounts of alcohol, cruise lines create an environment where peoples' judgment are flawed which often times leads to violence and sexual attacks. This places passengers at risk of harm which can be easily avoided by limiting the sale of alcohol.

No amount of money can make up for being sexually assaulted. However, victims of cruise ship sexual assaults / rapes are entitled to compensation for medical treatment, physical pain and suffering, mental and emotional anguish and other injuries experienced in the past or likely to be experienced in the future.

Click here for additional information concerning your rights if sexually assaulted or raped while aboard a cruise ship.

Recently, there has been major legislation concerning the problem of rape and sexual assaults on cruise ships. On July 27, 2010, President Obama signed the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act into law. This act increases security, law enforcement, and cruise lines' accountability for rapes and sexual assaults occurred on their cruise ships.

The following rules will apply to all cruise ships that touch a United States port:

• Installation of 42" guardrails, peepholes in every passenger and crew member's cabin door, on-deck video surveillance and an emergency sound system;
  
• Reporting and information sharing structure between the cruise lines, Coast Guard, and FBI.
  
• Each cruise ship is to maintain a log book that records all deaths, missing individuals, alleged crimes, and passenger/crewmember complaints regarding theft, sexual harassment, and assault;
  
• Rape kits, anti-retroviral medications, and a trained forensic sexual assault specialist are to be aboard each ship; and,
  
• Training appropriate crew members in crime prevention, detection, evidence preservation,
  
• Cruise lines are to give passengers who are victims of rape access to a confidential 24-hour sexual assault hotline while on board the cruise ship.

Maritime law holds Cruise Lines strictly responsible for the sexual assault / rape of their passengers by crew members employed aboard the vessel. This means the cruise line will still be liable even if the crew member did not have a history of such actions or the cruise line could not have prevented the attack. This, however, does not mean the victim will not face the inevitable questions regarding previous relationships, history of promiscuity, reasons for traveling on the cruise, alcohol consumed, dress attire, consent and the litany of usual additional inquires.

Though no amount of money can make up for being sexually attacked, as a victim of a sexual assault or rape aboard a cruise ship you are entitled to compensation for medical treatment, pain and suffering, mental and emotional anguish and other injuries experienced in the past or likely to be experienced in the future.

The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) recommends the following if sexually assaulted or raped:

1. Find a safe environment - anywhere away from the attacker. Ask a trusted friend to stay with you for moral support.
   
2. Know that what happened was not your fault and that now you should do what is best for you.
   
3. Report the attack to the authorities. If you want more information, a counselor on the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE can help you understand the process.
   
4. To preserve evidence of the attack - don't bathe or brush your teeth.
   
5. Write down all the details you can recall about the attack & the attacker.
   
6. Get medical attention. Even with no physical injuries, it is important to determine the risks of STDs and pregnancy.
   
7. To preserve forensic evidence, ask the hospital to conduct a rape kit exam.
   
8. If you suspect you may have been drugged, ask that a urine sample be collected. The sample will need to be analyzed later on by a forensic lab.
   

• Recognize that healing from rape takes time.
  
• Give yourself the time you need. Know that it's never too late to call.
  
• Even if the attack happened years ago, the National Sexual Assault Hotline (1-800-656-HOPE) or the National Sexual Assault Online Hotline can still help. Many victims do not realize they need help until months or years later.
  

We have been reporting on the major cruise lines forceing their crew member employees to sign arbitration agreements. These arbitration agreements deprive crew members of having their personal injury and wages claims decided by judges and juries. Courts, however, are starting to limit the cruise lines' ability to preclude crew members' access to court. Claims of rape and sexual assault are such instances where courts refused to require arbitration.

Courts have determined the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (Arbitration Convention) allows cruise lines to force their crew members to arbitrate personal injury and wage claims. Nearly every major cruise line including, Carnival, Celebrity, Holland America (HAL), Norwegian (NCL), Princess, Royal Caribbean, and others force their crew members to sign contracts which require any claim arising from their employment to be submitted to arbitration. Courts have recently been asked if crew member rape and sexual assault claims must also be arbitrated. The courts said NO! Their reasoning is the Arbitration Convention only governs disputes relating to, arising out of, or connected with employment; and, the heinous acts of rape and sexual assault have no relationship to employment. Based on this reasoning, the crew members were allow to pursue their claims in court.

This is one instance in a growing trend where courts are limiting the cruise lines' ability to force crew members to arbitrate their claims. If you have any questions concerning this article, do not hesitate to contact our board certified maritime lawyers and attorneys.

It is terrible but sexual assaults / rapes occur on cruise ships. In fact, during the short period of April 1, 2007 - August 24, 2007 the 25 major cruise lines that makes up the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) reported 41 instances of sexual assaults / rapes occurring aboard their ships. Such a high number is staggering. Based on the 41 reports, the FBI opened 13 investigative cases. According to the FBI, 5 of these cases were later closed due to victim reluctance to press charges or because the goverment declined to prosecute. As of September 2007, only 8 of these cases remained under investigation. This article is meant to explain why sexual assaults / rapes occur on cruise ships, the victim's rights and what to do if sexually assaulted during a cruise.

Cruise ships are floating cities with thousands of crew members from every corner of the world and every level of social background. Though there are multiple reasons why sexual assaults occur on cruise ship, these are the most common.

Failure to Perform Detailed Background Checks

Cruise Lines staff their ships without performing a detailed background check. An example that illustrates this point is the Carnival Cruise Line spa manager who was recently arrested for sexually assaulting a minor while he was a coach at a California gymnastics school in 2002. Incredibly, the spa manager worked for various cruise lines (including Disney Cruise Lines) for 8 years all the while being listed on California's Most Wanted List. Though Carnival claims it preformed a background check prior to letting this person serve as a spa manager, it seems inconceivable that a detailed background check would miss the fact that the person was on California's most wanted list.

Failure to Provide Adequate On-Board Security

Though modern cruise ships hold upwards to 6,000 passengers and 2,000 crew, the ship's security team is usually only made up of around 10 individuals. Not having a high security presence provides opportunity for sexual predators.

Crew Access to Passenger Stateroom

Nearly every cruise ship provides certain crew member key cards to gain access to state rooms for cleaning and delivery of dry-cleaning, gifts and room service. These key cards have been also used from more sinister purposes. In an effort to combat sexual assaults arising from crew access to staterooms, Congress passed the Cruise Vessel Security & Safety Act of 2010 which, among other things, requires cruise lines to restrict which crew members have access to the staterooms and the times of day the crew members can access the staterooms.

Maritime law holds Cruise Lines strictly responsible for the sexual assault / rape of their passengers by crew members employed aboard the vessel. This means the cruise line will still be liable even if the crew member did not have a history of such actions or the cruise line could not have prevented the attack. This, however, does not mean the victim will not face the inevitable questions regarding previous relationships, history of promiscuity, reasons for traveling on the cruise, alcohol consumed, dress attire, consent and the litany of usual additional inquires.

Though no amount of money can make up for being sexually attacked, as a victim of a sexual assault or rape aboard a cruise ship you are entitled to compensation for medical treatment, pain and suffering, mental and emotional anguish and other injuries experienced in the past or likely to be experienced in the future.

The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) recommends the following if sexually assaulted or raped:

1. Find a safe environment - anywhere away from the attacker. Ask a trusted friend to stay with you for moral support.
2. Know that what happened was not your fault and that now you should do what is best for you.
3. Report the attack to the authorities. If you want more information, a counselor on the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE can help you understand the process.
• To preserve evidence of the attack - don't bathe or brush your teeth.
• Write down all the details you can recall about the attack & the attacker.
• Get medical attention. Even with no physical injuries, it is important to determine the risks of STDs and pregnancy.
• To preserve forensic evidence, ask the hospital to conduct a rape kit exam.
• If you suspect you may have been drugged, ask that a urine sample be collected. The sample will need to be analyzed later on by a forensic lab.
4. If you know that you will never report the incident, there are some things you should still consider:
5. Recognize that healing from rape takes time. Give yourself the time you need.
6. Know that it's never too late to call. Even if the attack happened years ago, the National Sexual Assault Hotline (1-800-656-HOPE) or the National Sexual Assault Online Hotline can still help. Many victims do not realize they need help until months or years later.

Click here for additional information concerning your rights if sexually assaulted or raped while aboard a cruise ship.