Cruise passenger loses lawsuit appeal because it was filed too late

A passenger who sued Carnival Corporation for negligence lost the original case and the appeal because the statute of limitations (SOL) had elapsed.

Sylvia Crist claimed she suffered injuries from a trip-and-fall aboard a Carnival ship in the western Caribbean because of an unsafe staircase. She first filed a lawsuit in a Florida state court on Oct. 15, 2008, nine days before the expiration of the one-year SOL period stated on her ticket. Carnival moved for a dismissal on the grounds that the ticket specified that an action must be taken in a federal, not state, court.

On Nov. 12, 2008, Crist filed another action against Carnival in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Her attorneys argued that the period of limitation should be “equitably tolled” because of the action’s previous filing in state court. Under the principle of equitable tolling, a claim shall not be barred when the plaintiff, despite due diligence, did not or could not discover the injury until after the expiration of limitation period.

Carnival filed a motion for summary judgment because her suit had been filed in their court after the expiration of the SOL.

The district court granted Carnival’s motion for summary judgment because the ticket stated the requirement to file the action in federal court.

Crist appealed to the 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed the district court’s ruling.

Read Crist v. Carnival in our article library here.

Source: Hawaii Ocean Law.com