Carnival Cruise Line Wins New Trial After $10M Verdict in Sex Assault Suit
Carnival Cruise Line, long the subject of lawsuits accusing its crew members of unwanted sexual advances on passengers, has won a new trial in a case in which a Florida jury awarded $10.3 million to a young woman who said she was assaulted in 2018.
“…We reverse the district court’s grant of partial summary judgment on the false imprisonment claim, vacate in part the judgment of the district court as to the false imprisonment and sexual assault claims, and remand for a new trial on the false imprisonment and sexual assault claims,” the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals said this week.
The appellate judges agreed with Carnival’s argument that the lower federal court in southern Florida erred by not allowing the jury to hear about an FBI report that had concluded that the sexual encounter on the cruise ship was consensual.
The agent’s report “could have been the deciding factor for the jury,” the appellate judges wrote in the Aug. 25 opinion.
The woman, known only as Jane Doe, was extremely intoxicated aboard the Carnival Miracle ship in 2018. She told authorities that she did not fully recall the encounter with a member of the ship’s cleaning crew, or if the man blocked her from leaving a storage closet. But she later told friends and a security officer on the ship that she believed she had been assaulted.
Ship video recordings of the closet area were not examined. The crew member told the FBI agents that the meeting was consensual.
“We conclude that Doe has not met her burden of demonstrating that the FBI Reports’ conclusions could not be trusted,” Appeals Court Judge Barbara Lagoa wrote in the opinion. “In her briefs, Doe concedes that the FBI’s investigation was timely.”
The trial in Miami lasted six days and concluded in July. The courts have not indicated when a new trial may begin.
Carnival Corp., headquartered in Doral, Florida, is partly self-insured for liability claims, but also is covered by other insurance, including mutual insurance through protection and indemnity clubs, according to law firms that have handled litigation against cruise lines.
The 11th Circuit’s opinion can be seen here.
Related: Carnival Cruise Passenger Served 14 Shots Awarded $300,000 in Fall Down Stairs
Carnival Cruise Lines Not Liable for Teen’s Sexual Assault on Ship, Appeals Court Finds
Photo: The Carnival Miracle cruise ship in Mexico in 2023. (DepositPhotos)