Princess Cruise Lawsuit Says Co. Hid COVID-19 Risk

Princess Cruise Lines has been hit with a lawsuit by two passengers who claim that the company didn’t do enough to prevent a coronavirus outbreak on their ship after two previous passengers left with symptoms of the virus.

Plaintiffs Ronald and Eva W. are reportedly passengers on board the Grand Princess, a Princess Cruise ship which departed from San Francisco on Feb. 20 and has been stuck off the coast of the city since March 4 due to the coronavirus.

The plaintiffs allege that Princess Cruise knew of at least one passenger from a previous voyage who had symptoms of the coronavirus, but made the decision to continue to sail with 3,000 people on an infected ship.

There are 62 passengers currently on board the ship who were on the prior voyage who may have been exposed to infected passengers, two of which later died of the virus, the Princess Cruise lawsuit states.

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“In continuing to sail with another three thousand passengers including Plaintiffs on February 21, 2020, knowing that some of those passengers and crew had already been exposed to COVID-19, the Defendant Princess has exposed Plaintiffs to actual risk of immediate physical injury,” the plaintiffs maintain.

According to the Princess Cruise coronavirus lawsuit, the defendant exposed passengers to actual risk of immediate physical injury by continuing to sail with thousands of passengers knowing that some of those passengers had been exposed to COVID-19.

In addition, the plaintiffs allege that the defendant is negligent because it did not have proper screening protocols in place before boarding passengers on the current voyage which would have minimized the risk of exposure of the virus. 

Prior to boarding the ship on Feb. 21, passengers were just asked to fill out a piece of paper confirming that they were not sick, the Princess Cruise complaint relays.

The plaintiffs claim that the 62 legacy passengers who were mingling and mixing with the new passengers who came aboard on Feb. 21 were not tested for the virus until March 5 – two weeks after the ship sailed.

The cruise line also failed to adequately warn the plaintiffs about the possible exposure to COVID-19 before they boarded the ship on Feb. 21 as well as during their trip, according to the plaintiffs.

Princess Cruise Lines “knew that there were sixty two passengers and crew who were onboard that same sailing, who now are on board with Plaintiffs, and failed to inform Plaintiffs at any time prior to boarding or while they were already onboard, that there is an actual risk of exposure to COVID-19,” the plaintiffs claim.

The plaintiffs argue that the defendant sent emails on Feb. 25 to those who disembarked the ship on Feb. 21, notifying them of the possible exposure to the coronavirus while they were on board the ship. According to the plaintiffs, this email to former passengers proves that Princess Cruise Lines had knowledge of potential exposure.

Additionally, the plaintiffs claim that Princess Cruise Lines had actual knowledge of at least two passengers who had sailed on the ship a week prior and disembarked with symptoms of the virus, as well as one confirmed death.

The Princess Cruise lawsuit maintains that the defendant knew how dangerous it was to expose the plaintiffs and the rest of the passengers to the coronavirus due to a similar experience it had with another cruise three weeks earlier.

“Defendant Princess chose to place profits over the safety of its passengers, crew and the general public in continuing to operate business as usual, despite their knowledge of the actual risk of injury to Plaintiffs, who are elderly with underlying medical conditions,” the Princess Cruise Lines lawsuit alleges.

The Princess Cruise Lines lawsuit also maintains that passengers were not informed of the risks of exposure to COVID-19 at any time prior to boarding the ship or while they were already on board.

The plaintiffs state that, if they had knowledge of the risk of exposure prior to boarding, they would not have boarded the ship.

In addition, if they were notified on Feb. 25, when the former passengers were notified of the potential risk, the plaintiffs argue that they would have disembarked at the first port of call in Honolulu on Feb. 26.

The Princess Cruise class action lawsuit states that the couple is currently quarantined in their cabin off the coast of San Francisco awaiting instructions on what to do next, along with the other passengers and the crew.

The plaintiffs claim that they are suffering from emotional distress and are traumatized with fear about developing COVID-19 as they sit in their confined cabin aboard the vessel.

The plaintiffs are represented by Michael A. Simmrin of Simmrin Law Group and Debi F. Chalik of Chalik & Chalik PA.

The Princess Cruise Lines Coronavirus Lawsuit is Ronald W., et al. v. Princess Cruise Lines Ltd., Case No. 2:20-cv-02267, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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