A woman from California sued Carnival Corporation, accusing the company of serving her too much alcohol.
The woman, identified as Diana Sanders, said she was served at least 14 shots of tequila over 8 and a half hours, from 2:58 p.m. to 11:37 p.m. on Jan. 5, 2024.
Sanders said she was hurt when she fell while drunk on board the ship.
Her injuries included a concussion, headaches, a possible traumatic brain injury, back injuries and tailbone injuries.
Her lawyer said the bartenders on board should not have served her when she appeared visibly intoxicated. But bartenders on ships don’t normally cut off people as they do on land.
A federal jury in Miami ruled in her favor on April 10, awarding her $300,000 in damages. She requested $250,000, her attorney, Spencer Aronfeld, told the Miami Herald.
The jury decided that the ship’s crew members had a duty to provide reasonable care for passengers, including “the responsibility ... to supervise and/or assist passengers aboard the vessel who Carnival knew, or should have known, were engaging, or were likely to engage in behavior potentially dangerous to themselves or others aboard the vessel,” court documents state.
The cruise line argued that Sanders could not identify who over-served her.
“Therefore, the over-service of alcohol count should be dismissed for failure to sufficiently identify a negligent employee,” the company said, according to court documents.
The jury did not say the woman wasn’t at fault at all. Instead, they said the company was 60% at fault while she was 40% to blame.
Aronfeld released a statement to Today.com, which read, “Proving the over-service of alcohol is often difficult, as many people believe individuals should be solely responsible for their own consumption. Diana admitted her personal responsibility; however, the core issue was Carnival’s refusal to accept any corporate responsibility for serving someone who was clearly intoxicated.”
Carnival released a statement after the verdict, telling the newspaper by email, Carnival Corporation respectfully disagrees with the verdict and believes there are grounds for a new trial and appeal, which it will pursue.”
Royal Caribbean was sued by the fiancée of a man who died on the ship after he consumed 33 drinks in under 12 hours.
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