Whether a drunk man purposely dove off a Carnival cruise ship, or fell off, his widow is seeking damages from the cruise line for their reckless attitude in over-serving alcohol, the length of time it took them to come to his aid, and because they immediately labeled the incident as a suicide, as reported by The Courthouse News Service.
M.M. claims that staffers with Carnival Cruise Lines allowed 20 minutes to pass before sending out a rescue boat to search for her husband, C.M., after he fell off a ship's railing.
After failing to recover C.M.'s body the cruise line issued a statement that he had committed suicide.
M.M. states that the events leading up to the incident, and the lack of a suicide note, disprove Carnival's attestations, and their were several mitigating factors that Carnival failed to release to the press, that have caused her undue stress and pain.
The suit states that C.M. followed Carnival's lead in that he accepted free alcohol and engaged in the parties staged on the boat. When M.M. intervened, and tried to get her husband to slow down on the drinking, he left her behind in their cabin, went to the boat's upper deck, sat on the railing, and fell off.
Differing witness accounts state that he could have jumped or fell. However, according to the suit, all of the witnesses attested to C.M. appearing to be unconscious before he landed in the water.
Passengers scrambled to alert cruise staff – though once alerted a rescue boat was not lowered into the water to begin a search until 20 minutes after C.M.'s fall.
In regards to the cruise lines' alcohol policy the complaint reads, "Defendant negligently served alcoholic beverages to plaintiff's decedent C.M. to excess so that his judgment and faculties were substantially impaired. Defendant has a corporate policy of not keeping track of the amount of alcohol it freely serves its passengers, so as not to provide notice of overdrinking to passengers who might become injured in part or in whole due to intoxication, and attempt to sue the cruise line…"
M.M. stated that her husband had spent the day of his death, September 23, 2011, drinking in Cozumel "to the point of being unable to care for his own safety or to think clearly and rationally."
The defendant is accused of conditioning the victim to continue to drink beyond his normal limit and its use of words like 'bacchanal', 'orgy', 'debauch', 'merrymaking' and 'carnival' all perpetuated the party atmosphere.
The suit states, "…Carnival negligently and/or intentionally failed to take even the most minimal precautions to prepare for this eventuality and to be able to either a) prevent it from occurring and/or b) rescue a passenger who falls into the sea. Defendant did not train its deck personnel…Defendant failed to have a closed circuit television camera trained on the rail…Defendant failed to have a reasonably safe rescue plan in place and then negligently failed to properly execute the plan it did have in place."
In a final blow, a Carnival Corporation representative had contacted J.M, C.M.'s mother, and told her that he had committed suicide. They also released the same information to members of the press who appeared at her home.
Reporters also were waiting for M.M. as she disembarked, and later, at her home. She chose to stay with relatives. M.M. soon discovered, via the Internet, all of the news that had been reported about her husband's death.
Damages are sought for negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Loosing a loved one, and then doubly hurt by how it was handled, is a rare case of personal injury. Contact a personal injury lawyer if someone has caused you undue physical or emotional pain.