Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) has been found negligent in its duty of care to passengers after it failed to cancel a voyage out of Sydney which led to a major COVID-19 outbreak, an Australian court has ruled.
Carnival’s Ruby Princess ocean liner departed Sydney on March 8, 2020, with 2,671 passengers on board.
A total of 663 passengers contracted COVID-19, including 28 who died, and the ship was forced to return early from its intended 13-day voyage to New Zealand after 11 days as Australia’s borders were closing.
Passenger Susan Karpik was the lead plaintiff in the class action lawsuit against the cruise operator Carnival and its subsidiary Princess Cruises, the ship's owner.
Federal Court judge Angus Stewart ruled that Carnival had been negligent as defined by Australian consumer law by allowing the cruise to depart and said it had a duty to take care of Karpik's health and safety with regard to COVID-19.
“I have found that before the embarkation of passengers on the Ruby Princess for the cruise in question, the respondents knew or ought to have known about the heightened risk of coronavirus infection on the vessel and its potentially lethal consequences and that their procedures for screening passengers and crew members for the virus were unlikely to screen out all infectious individuals,” Stewart said.
According to Brisbane-based law firm Shine Lawyers, which represented more than 1,000 plaintiffs in the class action, it is the first class action victory against a cruise operator globally.
Karpik, whose COVID-19 symptoms were mild, was awarded A$4,423.48 (about US$2,800) to cover her out-of-pocket medical expenses but no damages. She had sued Carnival for more than A$360,000 (about US$230,000).
Her lawyer Vicky Antzoulatos told the media that other passengers who suffered greater consequences from their illness could be awarded larger payouts, such as Karpik’s husband Henry who spent two months hospitalized and almost died from COVID-19.
Carnival said in a statement that it was considering the judgement in detail.
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