SeaWorld Class Action Seeks COVID-19 Refunds

A new class action lawsuit accuses SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment of failing to provide refunds on park passes after its parks were shut down due to coronavirus.

Janet Gurwell and Brad Sylvia, both of Suffolk, Va., filed the class action lawsuit after the sea life park failed to refund the cost of the monthly passes each had purchased.

Gurwell holds a monthly membership to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Va., and Tampa, Florida, both of which are owned by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, according to the SeaWorld class action lawsuit.

Gurwell says she pays about $20 per month to be able to access the parks whenever she wants. Similarly, Sylvia pays about $15 per month for his monthly parks membership, the SeaWorld class action lawsuit says.

The parks have been closed since March 16, shortly after Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and President Donald Trump declared states of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No patrons have been allowed to enter the parks since they closed. Only recently has the sea life park company started to reopen the parks, according to the SeaWorld website.

Because the parks have been closed, Gurwell and Sylvia have been prevented from accessing the parks. However, the plaintiffs say, the company continues to charge their accounts with the full monthly membership amount.

The SeaWorld class action lawsuit claims that the defendant has not refunded any of the fees the plaintiffs have paid while the parks have been closed. Gurwell allegedly contacted the defendant for a refund but never received one. 

Both plaintiffs signed up for the SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment’s month-to-month membership plan believing they’d be able to access the parks on the dates provided by the defendant as indicated with the membership package, the SeaWorld class action lawsuit states.

Gurwell and Sylvia say that, had they known they wouldn’t have access to the parks, they wouldn’t have paid for the memberships or wouldn’t have paid for it on the same terms. The plaintiffs say they continue to be harmed by incurring monthly charges while the parks remain closed.

The annual memberships in question entitle members to use the parks whenever they want. But since the parks have been shut down, no member has been able to use the services they are paying for, even though the defendant is continuing to charge thousands of members monthly fees, the SeaWorld class action lawsuit says.

The defendant has become unjustly enriched and “has willfully, falsely, and knowingly misrepresented that its Parks are accessible during certain days of the year,” the SeaWorld class action lawsuit says.

“However, Defendant in fact charges full price for annual memberships even when the Parks are closed to the public. These misrepresentations and omissions were made with knowledge of their falsehood.”

This is not the first class action lawsuit to be filed against SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment in relation to the company’s memberships.

In a similar case, plaintiff Lisa Kouball claims she pays almost $50 a month for four annual passes to SeaWorld. 

After it was announced that SeaWorld would be closing, Kouball says she expected she wouldn’t have to pay for the memberships during the closure. However, she says she was charged the full monthly price of her memberships.

Kouball says she and other parks members are not getting the benefits of their annual passes due to the park closures, and therefore shouldn’t be forced to keep paying membership fees, her class action lawsuit argues.

Gurwell and Sylvia are pursuing a class action because they believe members of the proposed Class “number in the millions,” the complaint explains.

The plaintiffs say “the expense and burden of individual litigation would make it impracticable or impossible for Class members to prosecute their claims individually.”

In their SeaWorld class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs ask for an order stopping SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment’s “unfair, deceptive, misleading, and fraudulent practices;” actual damages in an amount to be determined at a jury trial, as well as pre- and post-judgment interest at the maximum rate allowable by law; restitution or disgorgement in an amount to be determined at trial; treble and punitive damages; attorneys’ fees and costs; and any further relief deemed appropriate by the Court.

Read more about coronavirus lawsuits and legal issues in Top Class Actions’ complete guide.

Are you paying for a membership you are unable to use because of coronavirus business closures? We want to hear from you. Tell us your story in the comments.

Gurwell and Sylvia are represented by Jodie E. Buchman Esq. and Pierce C. Murphy Esq. of Silverman Thompson Slutkin White and Ryan J. Clarkson, Matthew T. Theriault, Bahar Sodaify and Zach Chrzan of Clarkson Law Firm PC.

The SeaWorld Parks Membership Class Action Lawsuit is Case is Janet Gurwell, et al. v. SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment Inc., Case 2:20-cv-00312, in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

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