Articles Tagged with rape

Cruise lines are in the business of making their guests feel safe, at ease, and protected. As many attorneys know (particularly attorneys experienced with maritime law), this is not always the case. A recent news report has shown that one cruise line failed to keep one of its passengers safe from its own employee. This passenger not only received threats by an employee, she also achieved very little headway with convincing local authorities of her plight.

Bahamas Cruise Line Passenger Threatened by Employee

A bachelorette party should be a joyous occasion, one filled with friends, excitement, and memory-making experiences. Unfortunately, this was not the case for one woman who went to celebrate her last few days of singlehood on the Bahamas Paradise Cruise. According to the report, a crew member threatened the woman with rape on numerous occasions. When she slammed the door in his face, he repeated the threats. After a period of a few minutes, the employee disappeared from outside her door.  

Media reports of unauthorized entry into a stateroom by a low level crew member, beating, forcible rape, attempted murder, and escape shock the cruising public.

Every cruise passenger lawyer knows there is strict liability for these harms.  This means Holland America owes this passenger 100% of her compensatory damages.

Philip Gerson, Board Chair of the National Center for Victims of Crime and board member for International Cruise Victims organizations says this is not enough.  “This victim should sue Holland America for punitive damages for misleading the vacationing public about the safety of cruising.  Passengers at sea are in a jurisdictional vacuum and cruise lines refuse to undertake needed reforms to prevent these attacks.”  Gerson, founding partner at Gerson & Schwartz  in Miami said the Cruise Line Industry Association (CLIA) should also be sued for promoting a disinformation campaign to mislead the public about the dangers of unskilled, poorly trained and inadequately supervised crew members who harm innocent travelers.”

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