Cruise Line Not Liable for More than a Reasonable Duty of Care

Cruise Line Not Liable for More than a Reasonable Duty of Care

By: Penny Kissinger

Casorio v. Princess Cruise Lines, Ltd., No. 15-56239, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 2758; 2017 WL 631702 (9th Cir. Feb. 14, 2017).A passenger on a Princess Cruise Line vessel died following a fall while disembarking from the vessel in St. Maarten. The passenger’s heir filed suit, claiming the cruise line breached its duty of care by failing to arrange or provide transportation to a more advanced hospital after the injury.The district court for the Central District of California dismissed the suit, finding that there was no higher duty of care owed other than a reasonable one under either California state law or the Death on the High Seas Act (“DOHSA”).The plaintiff appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals disputing that the claims presented fell within admiralty jurisdiction or DOHSA. The court declined to address this issue because the “duty of care. . . claim[ed] does not exist under either general maritime law or state law.” The court held that the Princess Cruise Line met its burden of care by conveying the injured party to a hospital that was better equipped to provide medical care than the vessel itself could. In addition, the hospital was able to more easily facilitate an air evacuation for the patient.Thus, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the suit.