Federal court imposes Jones Act justice on Carnival’s arbitration clause

In a victory for cruise workers' rights, a federal court has struck down Carnival Cruise Lines arbitration provision. Carnival, NCL, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and other cruise lines have used clauses in their employment contracts allowing foreign law to be imposed instead of providing Jones Act rights for personal injury claims. These so-called arbitration provisions can force crewmembers to have their grievances heard in a foreign country.

The Southern District of Florida recently found Carnival's arbitration language which forced a worker to have his claim arbitrated under Panamanian law to be null and void because it violated his Jones Act rights.

Even though Carnival had inserted a clause into the contract that deleted language considered null and void, the Miami court declared the entire arbitration agreement to be invalid. Therefore, the entire case was sent back to state court for a trial by jury.

This decision reinforces a movement by many courts not to enforce arbitration provisions, allowing the workers to have their cases heard in front of juries.

Source:  Maritime Law Blog