Our lawyers represent crewmembers and seafarers from all over the world. One of the first questions that must be answered when a client contacts the law firm is whether United States law applies to their personal injury claim. When it comes to the United States based cruise lines such as Carnival, Norwegian (NCL), Disney, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Holland America, Princess, United States law will most likely apply. The application of United States law is more complex when it comes to cargo vessels or cruise ships that are not based in the United States. This article is meant to assist injured seafarers in determining whether United States law applies to their personal injury claims.
There is nothing more worrisome to a cruise line in a personal injury case than the potential of a punitive damages award. For years it was believed by the cruise lines that punitive damages were not awardable to passengers under maritime law. A Florida federal court recently clarified punitive damages are alive and well in maritime law and indeed awardable in passenger personal injury claims. The purpose of this article is to provide a brief history of punitive damages in the maritime law context and to show how the availability of punitive damages has been treated by the courts.
For the past six years, cruise lines such as Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Norwegian (NCL) have attempted to require their crewmembers who get hurt on the job to forgo the right to jury trial and compel them to have arbitrators decide what compensation they deserve. Most times the cruise lines bury this jury trial waiver / arbitration provision in the employment contract’s fine print. Worst still, cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, have language in the employment contracts that references the terms of collective bargaining agreement are incorporated into the employment agreement. The problem is the seamen have no representation in the “union” who negotiated the collective bargaining agreement and are often not given a copy of the collective bargaining agreement. As such, many seafarers have no idea they are waiving their jury trial rights.
Brais & Brais’ Florida maritime attorneys successfully argued that a Federal Court can hear a breach of the warranty of workmanlike performance implied in an oral repair contract as well as a breach of marine bailment dispute concerning the sinking of a recreational boat that was entrusted to an engine repairer.
Swimmers and water skiers are injured each year by boat propellers. Our Florida boat accident attorneys are often asked if the boat or engine manufactures are liable for these injuries. The law finds a manufacture of a product liable for an injured caused by that product when the design is defective and/or if there existed an alternative safer design. All too often manufactures make a business decision to not place a safer product into the market because of cost. Instead they take the approach that it is cheaper to pay the odd personal injury claim than to spend the money to produce a safer product. There is a recent trend among court cases finding manufactures for not equipment their engines with propeller guards.
