By: Catherine Wilson | Law.com / Daily Business Review
Carnival Pride cruise ship. Credit: Eric Glenn/Shutterstock.com
A woman who tripped on the leg of a deck chair on a Carnival cruise will get another chance to pursue her case after a federal appeals court revived the litigation.
Writing for a unanimous panel, Circuit Judge Adalberto Jordan concluded a former colleague, U.S. District Judge Jose Martinez in Miami, was too deferential to Carnival’s arguments by not allowing a jury to hear Elaine Carroll’s negligence complaint.
She was walking with her husband, “who has a large profile,” to a steakhouse on the sports deck of the Carnival Pride when the deck chairs forced them to walk single file with her trailing and her view narrowed, Jordan said.
Martinez granted summary judgment for Carnival, concluding the cruise operator had no duty to warn passengers because the chairs were an open and obvious condition and the company lacked actual or constructive notice of a hazard.
Carroll maintained the deck chairs arrayed around the restaurant’s semicircular wall amounted to a dangerous condition.
Citing the testimony of crew members, Jordan wrote, “A reasonable jury could view this testimony as evidence that Carnival has taken corrective measures — i.e., adopting a policy of keeping the chairs in-line and/or in the upright position and instructing employees to ensure that they are not blocking the walkway — due to a known danger.”
Carroll’s expert said the maximum walkway width was 35-36 inches with the reclining deck chairs upright and against the restaurant wall. A flat chair and any gap between the wall and chair would reduce the walkway to 23 to 28.5 inches. The opinion noted the minimum standard under the Americans with Disabilities Act is 36 inches.
A jury could conclude “Carnival negligently maintained an unsafe walkway that fell below industry standards,” Jordan wrote. Circuit Judge Jill Pryor and visiting Second Circuit Judge John Walker Jr. concurred.
Carroll was represented on appeal by Philip Parrish of Philip D. Parrish P.A. and Darren Rousso of The Rousso Law Firm in Miami. They did not respond to a call and email for comment by deadline.
Carnival was represented by Brian Scarry, David Horr and Stephanie Wylie of Horr, Novak & Skipp in Miami. They also had no comment.
