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A class action lawsuit has been filed against Costa Cruises by a passenger claiming the cruise line sailed after a passenger had shown coronavirus symptoms.
Plaintiff Paul Turner says that Costa made an intentional decision to go ahead with a transatlantic 20 day cruise on March 5, 2020 knowing that a passenger on a previous trip had symptoms of the coronavirus.
Turner also claims that the cruise line concealed that a passenger on the Costa Luminosa also had symptoms of COVID-19 which necessitated a medical evacuation.
In Costa Cruise class action maintains that the cruise line also waited two days to tell their passengers to isolate in their staterooms after being informed that a passenger who disembarked in Puerto Rico also showed symptoms of the coronavirus.
Costa and the cruise industry allegedly should have known about the severity of outbreaks on the ships because the class action lawsuit states that there were two other incidents before Costa set sail.
First, the Diamond Princess, which, like Costa Cruises, owned by the Carnival Corporation, started seeing an outbreak of the coronavirus in February 2020, the plaintiff says. In addition, a second ship, the Grand Princess, started seeing an outbreak off the coast of California in February 2020.
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“It would only stand to reason, that knowing of these prior traumatic outbreaks on two of its sister company’s vessels less than a month prior to the subject voyage on the Costa Luminosa, that Costa would have learned to take all necessary precautions to keep its passengers, crew and the general public safe,” says Turner.
The plaintiff alleges that, despite knowing the risk faced by the passengers and the crew, the Costa Luminosa set sail anyway and because of this, the plaintiff and other Class Members have been exposed to the coronavirus and are at risk of immediate injury and possible death.
The previous voyage of the Costa Luminosa set sail on Feb. 24, 2020 from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and was set to return on March 5, 2020.
On Feb. 29, 2020, a 68-year-old passenger from Italy was evacuated in the Cayman Islands due to having symptoms of the coronavirus as well as a stroke, the plaintiff alleges. This passenger subsequently passed away, claims Turner.
The Costa Luminosa landed back in Fort Lauderdale on March 5, 2020 and immediately began loading up the plaintiff and the new passengers, according to the plaintiff. This was done without adequately sanitizing the ship as well as using a third-party to verify that the common areas of the vessel were safe for passengers and crew members.
Turner claims that before he boarded the ship on March 5, 2020, he and other passengers asked Costa if the ship was safe to travel on and the company told them that there was no need for concern. In addition, Costa reportedly told the passengers they would not be reimbursed for the trip if they decided not to board.
The plaintiff maintains that Costa did not deny boarding of passengers or crew members who showed symptoms of the coronavirus as well as history of travel to China, Japan, Italy, and South Korea.
Turner says that, during the voyage, a coronavirus outbreak occurred on the ship that was so severe, the Costa Luminosa was denied entry to numerous ports-of-call by the governments of the respective countries due to how contagious the coronavirus was.
On March 8, 2020, the ship docked in Puerto Rico, but Costa did not inform the passengers that an elderly couple was disembarking there because they were stricken with COVID-19, Turner maintains.
However, the trip went on. The ship sailed from Puerto Rico to the Canary Islands, even though Costa knew that there had been two passengers on board who had contracted the virus, the plaintiff alleges.
“During the voyage, Costa concealed information surrounding the coronavirus from passengers by blocking out news channels on stateroom TVs that had previously been available to passengers during the beginning of the cruise,” according to the Costa class action lawsuit.
The plaintiff maintains that Costa failed to recognize the seriousness of the medical condition of their passengers and did not instruct passengers who showed symptoms of the virus to self-quarantine in their cabins. These omissions were in direct violation of the CDCs guidelines for ships dealing with the virus, says Turner.
“As a result of Defendant Costa’s grossly negligent approach to the safety of the passengers on board the Costa Luminosa, its passengers and crew aboard the Costa Luminosa were at an actual risk of immediate physical injury and death,” according to the plaintiff.
The plaintiff is represented by Michael A. Winkleman, Jason R. Margulies, Marc E. Weiner and Daniel W. Grammes of Lipcon Margulies Alsina & Winkleman PA.
The Costa Cruise Lines Class Action Lawsuit is Paul Turner, et al. v. Costa Crociere SPA, et al., Case No. 1:20-cv-21481, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
UPDATE: On June 25, 2020, Costa Cruise filed a motion in court to dismiss the coronavirus class action lawsuit.
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