Eleventh Circuit Gives Minor Rape Victim Day in Court
K.T. v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., 931 F.3d 1041 (11th Cir. 2019).
By: Taylor C. Lombardo
In this recent Eleventh Circuit Court of Appealsdecision, the court issued what could be an unprecedented opinion altering theliability of cruise ships for sexual assaults that occur on board.
In 2015, K.T. and her family embarked on a cruise withRoyal Caribbean. On the first night of the cruise, the plaintiff, a minor atthe time, alleged numerous adult male passengers bought alcoholic beverages forher in a lounge area of the ship to the point that she became “highlyintoxicated”, “obviously drunk, disoriented, and unstable” and “obviouslyincapacitated.”[1]Furthermore, she alleged that the men took her to a cabin where they proceededto assault and gang rape her. The Complaint further alleged that the purchaseof the alcohol occurred in plain view of the vessel’s crew and the crewresponsible for monitoring the security cameras.[2] Relevant to the appealwere the claims that Royal Caribbean failed to warn passengers of sexualassaults and in failing to act to prevent them.[3]
The district court dismissed K.T.’s claim under Rule12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim. This appeals court reviewed the districtcourt’s motion to dismiss de novo and had to decide if the claim was plausibleon its face as to allow relief.
Upon reviewing the Complaint, the panel unanimouslydecided that the claim was sufficient to survive a motion to dismiss for thefollowing reasons. First, the court concluded that K.T. sufficiently allegedthat she suffered an actual harm.[4] The scope of RoyalCaribbean’s duty was based on knowledge of known dangers, and the panelconcluded K.T.’s allegation was enough to establish that sexual assaults onminors were a foreseeable and known danger to Royal Caribbean. Second, thecomplaint sufficiently alleged that Royal Caribbean breached the duty ofordinary care by not preventing the men from buying her alcohol and leading herto the cabin. Third, the allegation that Royal Caribbean failed to warn of thesexual assaults on board was sufficient. Thus, the court reversed and remandedthis case on the basis that her allegations “are plausible and raise areasonable expectation that discovery could supply additional proof of [RoyalCaribbean’s] liability.”[5]
Finally, the panel stated that if the allegations arefound to be true, there is much to improve upon for the protection ofpassengers against sexual assault and rape on board vessels. This decisioncould lead to a change in policy and protection of passengers, especiallyminors, without fear of claims being dismissed for failure to state a cause.
Judge Ed Carnes, author or the majority opinion, wrotefurther in a concurring opinion that since 2010, 46 U.S.C. § 3507(g)(1)(A)requires Cruise Lines to keep a record of all complaints that occur on board indocuments known as Cruise Line Incident Reports. These complaints must bereported to the FBI and United States Department of Transportation. He stated thatthe court may take judicial notice of these records.[6] Judicial notice wouldcreate the ability to “supplement the allegations in a complaint with facts containedin judicially noticed materials” in rulings for motion to dismiss.[7] The vessel’s counsel agreedat oral argument that this knowledge could be imputed to the cruise line.[8]
[1] K.T. v. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., 931F.3d 1041, 1043 (11th Cir. 2019).
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] K.T. v. Royal Caribbean CruisesLtd., 931 F.3d at 1044.
[5] K.T. v. Royal Caribbean CruisesLtd., 931 F.3d at 1046.
[6] K.T. v. Royal Caribbean CruisesLtd., 931 F.3d at 1048.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
