Resort Injury Lawyer Blog

While vacationing in Miami Beach, a guest of the Fontainebleau resort got more than she expected: sexual battery and a very personal licking by her massage therapist. Masseuse Francisco Araica was charged with sexual battery after police said he inappropriately touched and licked a woman during a massage.

The hotel guest was having a massage at the Lapis Spa inside the Fontainebleau hotel on September 23rd when Araica sexually battered her. The man reportedly told the guest he "had never done this before but she was so beautiful."

Vacationers at resorts often take advantage of the spa services and reasonably assume that the massage therapists are capable, qualified, trained, supervised and ethical. Most spa massages are exactly what the guest expected: therapeutic and relaxing. But guests are at the mercy of the massage therapist - and the spa itself - when in a vulnerable position of receiving a massage.

This is not the first time a guest at the Fontainebleau Resort has been sexually assaulted while receiving a massage. Leighton Law, P.A. has previously represented another guest of the hotel, who was sexually assaulted by a massage therapist in a similar manner.

In what can only be characterized as a repeat tragedy in South Florida, 28 year-old Kathleen Miskell of Connecticut was killed while riding a parasail off the coast of Pompano Beach, Florida yesterday. While her husband watched helplessly from the tandem parasail in which they were strapped, the harness holding Kathleen failed, throwing her 200 feet to the water. Ms. Miskell was pronounced dead at North Broward Medical Center a short time later.

This tragic death falls almost on the anniversary of the double tragedy involving 15 year-old Amber May White and her 16 year-old sister Crystal in 2007. Amber May was killed and Crystal suffered a severe head injury when the parasail on which they were riding disconnected from its line, throwing them into a building. This too occurred in Pompano Beach.

Mrs. Miskell died while aboard a Wave Blast Water Sports parasailing operation. The ride was operated out of the Sands Hotel in Pompano Beach. This took place by the Hillsboro Inlet.

In the years since the tragedy involving the White children, attempts have been made to regulate the parasailing industry. Attorney John Elliott Leighton, lead counsel for the White family in the litigation against the parasailing operators and resort where the tragedy occurred, has worked to propose legislation in Florida to prevent these types of horrors. His client and mother of the two girls, Shannon Kraus, has passionately worked toward passage of the Amber May Law, originally proposed by State Senator Gwen Margolis. The law would set minimum requirements for parasailing safety. The bill has failed to pass each time it has been proposed, being blocked by resort interests.

The death of Kathleen Miskell highlights the need for regulation. While visitors to Florida's resorts think they are in good hands, in reality there is no state or federal regulation. These tragedies keep occurring.

Without any regulation, it is only through aggressive litigation that the industry - and the resorts themselves - will place an emphasis on the safety of passengers as opposed to making a quick dollar. Currently anyone can get a boat, tow rope and parasail and open up a parasailing business. Unfortunately tourists are not informed of the risks or the experience or quality of the operators. Far too many of these operators fail to carry substantial insurance or inspect and replace their equipment in a timely manner. All of this contributes to eventual tragedy.

Board certified trial lawyer John Elliott Leighton has represented too many victims of parasailing mishaps. It is his hope that by bringing this situation to the attention of the public, both legislatures and the public will awaken before more people are injured or killed.

Mr. Leighton had to break the news of Ms. Miskell's death to Amber May's mother. Miskell died four days before the anniversary of Amber May's accident. Five years ago Shannon had to remove her daughter from life support and Amber May was buried on what would have been her 16th birthday. As Shannon said, " I hope no parent ever has to go through this again." Sadly, this time it is Ms. Miskell's husband Stephen who must suffer the greatest loss.

Sunbathers beware! The beach seems like the perfect place to kick back, relax, and maybe even take a snooze under the sun. But for some vacationers, being run over by a lifeguard truck can quickly change that relaxing mood.

The latest victim was a school teacher from North Carolina visiting Fort Lauderdale.

"All I can tell you is that suddenly I was a human speed bump," she told the Sun Sentinel. "There were tires moving over my body. I could have easily died."

The vehicle was a Fort Lauderdale Ocean Rescue truck. Surprisingly, the incident occurred near a lifeguard tower. The woman told the Sentinel that her injuries included burns, cuts, orthopedic and neurological injuries, which were treated at Broward General Medical Center. She's lucky they were not more serious, nor fatal.

Although legally sunbathers have the right of way over all traffic, several people have been run over on Florida beaches. Since 1995, there have been nearly 50 beach-driving accidents in Volusia County alone, all resulting in injury or death. Last year, a four-year-old child was hit and killed by a truck on New Smyrna Beach. Volusia County is among the defendants sued in that case, with a claim that the county should have created a safer environment for beachgoers.

Lifeguards are not the only trusted authorities to cause beach accidents. Last year, a woman suffered traumatic brain injuries after being struck by a police officer driving an ATV on Miami Beach, whose blood alcohol level was over the legal limit even five hours after the incident. The City of Miami Beach and the resort hotel that allegedly served alcohol to on-duty police officers on a regular basis were lawsuit contenders.

Resort Torts are cases of civil liability for negligent or criminal acts that arise out of a resort, vacation or recreational setting. These can involve aspects of hotel and motel safety, cruise ship litigation, pleasure boating and jet ski incidents, amusement, aquatic, diving and swimming incidents, foreign travel and medical emergencies, gaming and casinos, aviation (commercial and general), rental car liability, moped, bicycle and motorcycle safety, buses and tour guides, travel industry liability for crime victims, and medical care provided to vacationers.

Resort Torts can encompass a vast array of types of cases but they all have one thing in common: tourists, business travelers and locals alike are all exposed to risk while traveling, vacationing or engaging in resort or pleasure activities.

A daycare facility is not exactly a resort, but it also shouldn't be a place where abuse of 6-year-olds occurs.

On April 2, a lawsuit was filed against Kiddie U., Inc, on behalf of a child who was sexually abused there at age six by an older boy, according to the suit.

The Orlando, Florida daycare facility is accused of negligence, for providing an unsupervised area where the older child had created a concealed area in the form of a "fort" in the gym room, where the abuse allegedly took place, and for misrepresentation, having told the mother that there were cameras in every room.

The Orlando Sentinel reported the case filing and spoke with the boy's attorney, John Leighton, who said that the victim has since revealed that he was sexually battered by the older boy at least five times and is in therapy and has suffered emotional distress.

"It's a very sad situation, because it will take his entire life in a different trajectory," Leighton said.

Full article here.

As if a shipwreck, a fire, a gunpoint robbery and intestinal viruses weren't enough for the cruise industry this year, a Central Florida teenager has filed suit against Carnival Corp. in federal court in Miami, alleging a strip search and more by three employees.

The girl says that during a four-day cruise to the Bahamas, she was accused by a security officer of possessing "a bag with 'green leaves and substance inside'" as reported by the Miami Herald. Subsequently, three Carnival employees questioned the teen, searched her cabin, and examined her genitals. The complaint says the girl and her mother were removed from the ship and the alleged victim was placed in a holding cell in the Bahamas with an adult woman, where she was assaulted.

Carnival released a statement calling the claims "far-fetched" and "patently false, and obviously made in retaliation for the cruise line disembarking the plaintiff and her mother part-way through the voyage in Nassau..."

The plaintiff is seeking more than $75,000.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO THIS MONTH, in April 1912, the legendary RMS Titanic capped off its maiden voyage by colliding with an iceberg and sinking into the Atlantic Ocean. More than 1,500 people were killed and the tragedy was named one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history.

You'd think that 100 years later, with advances in technological precision that mariners of days past could hardly have dreamed of, cruising would have become a much safer vacation option for tourists, and that preventable cruise ship disasters would be left behind with the bygone era.

But the year 2012, marking the Titanic disaster's 100th Anniversary, is proving otherwise...

The year kicked off with the worst cruise ship disaster since the Titanic, when the Costa Concordia crashed into a rock and sank off the coast of Italy, killing 30 and injuring many more in mid-January. The Resort Torts reported included lack of evacuation drills before the ship sailed, no head counts once in the life boats, and an "'unapproved, unauthorized' deviation in course" by the captain. Hundreds of millions of dollars in lawsuits have been filed.

In February, hundreds of passengers and crew members on Princess Cruise ships were struck with norovirus, a highly contagious gastrointestinal virus not uncommon aboard cruise ships, which can lead to severe dehydration, hospitalization and even death. Also in February, 22 passengers from the Carnival Splendor cruise ship were robbed at gunpoint during a shore excursion in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. In the Bahamas, a woman went missing from a Celebration Cruise Line ship.

In March, the Costa Allegra caught fire, lost power, and was adrift in the Indian Ocean without lights or air conditioning and more than 1,000 people on board.

The annual Cruise Shipping Miami conference last month presented a "State of the Industry" discussion which focused not on new developments or ship launches as much as cruise ship safety, proper crew training, appropriate precautions and crisis management.

Cruise ships are virtual floating cities and prime locations for resort torts. As maritime hotels, they can lack fundamental safety policies, protocols, and procedures to protect passengers from harm. They generally fly foreign flags, so they do not have to comply with United States laws. Antiquated laws and contractual language limiting passenger rights and remedies can put travelers in a precarious position and require aggressive litigation. To learn more about Resort Torts, visit Leighton Law.

More details have been discovered about the driver who left a 27-year-old pregnant woman from Massachusetts dead in a poolside cabana at the Riverside Hotel in Fort Lauderdale.

The incident occurred March 18 when Rosa Maria Rivera, of Plantation, Florida, lost control of her car and crashed into the cabana, killing the seven months' pregnant woman.

Rivera reported to a police officer that "she had an argument with her husband at a restaurant and sped off in her car just before the collision," according to a search warrant reported by the Sun Sentinel.

The search warrant lists DUI manslaughter as a potential charge. Rivera said that the argument with her husband took place at Mangos Restaurant and Lounge on Las Olas Blvd., where she had ordered a martini, but didn't finish it before leaving. They had been married for less than one month.

The car's driver reportedly lost control, hit a curb, crossed a sidewalk and continued 20 feet into the cabana. At the time, the driver sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was reported to be in stable condition. A myriad of legal issues could come into play, from driver negligence causing catastrophic injuries to premises liability and resort tort litigation.

The victim of the fatal tragedy was a teaching assistant for a third-grade special education class in Massachusetts.

A bizarre and tragic incident left an expectant mother and her unborn baby dead at a Fort Lauderdale hotel's poolside cabana.

The 27-year-old woman visiting from Massachusetts had just entered the cabana when a car plowed into it, killing her instantly. The car's driver reportedly lost control, hit a curb, crossed a sidewalk and continued 20 feet into the cabana. The driver sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was reported to be in stable condition.

An investigation is underway and charges against the driver are pending toxicology tests. A Breathalyzer and blood test were not performed immediately following the incident because the driver was injured. A myriad of legal issues could come into play, from driver negligence causing catastrophic injuries to premises liability and resort tort litigation.

The mother-to-be and her husband had traveled to Fort Lauderdale to attend the Real Marriage Tour at Calvary Chapel, where more than 3,000 people gathered for "discussions on love, friendship and sexuality in a program designed to strengthen marriages," reported the Sun Sentinel. The couple had won the trip in an essay contest, with a winning entry focused on their dedication to their faith and desire for one last vacation before the birth of their son. The victim of the fatal tragedy was a teaching assistant for a third-grade special education class in Massachusetts.

The heartbreak and emotional trauma the victim's husband is suffering is almost unimaginable. He would have returned home with his wife to a house prepared for the arrival of their child, and now will return alone.

That's the question many skeptical vacationers are asking themselves these days, with all the cruise ship safety issues surfacing this year. From norovirus to shipwreck and onboard fire, the cruise industry is now under tough scrutiny.

This week, its leaders gather in Miami for the 28th annual Cruise Shipping Miami conference, along with 1,000 exhibiting companies and around 11,000 attendees from 110 countries.

The Miami Herald reported that the mood was somber yesterday morning when six cruise industry executives discussed the "State of the Industry" in a two-hour panel session. Safety was the main topic, with questions posed about training, language complications, safety precautions and crisis management. They acknowledged that the incidents and accidents have negatively affected bookings, but stated their hopefulness for a brighter future.

Cruising Statistics at a Glance:
• Florida's economy sees $6.3 billion in direct spending from the cruise industry.
• The Cruise Lines International Association predicts that 16 million people will vacation on cruise ships this year
• Of those 16 million, 3/4 are from North America.
• Cruising makes up about 3% of the vacation sector in the United States.

New Ships This Year:

DISNEY DREAM
• 4,000 passenger capacity
• Disney's third ship
• Sails from Florida's Port Canaveral to The Bahamas.

CARNIVAL MAGIC
• 3,690 passenger capacity
• Carnival's 23rd ship
• Sails from Barcelona
• Carnival Cruise Line's largest ship

Known as the "cruise capitol of the world," the Port of Miami is home to more cruise ships than any other location. Carnival, Royal Caribbean, NCL, Celebrity, Crystal and several other lines port their largest cruise ships in Miami. By contract (read the "ticket for passage" issued by the cruise line) most cruise lines require that any case against them be brought in Miami. They also require that these cases be brought within one year, a very short statute of limitation.

Cruise ships are not merely large boats, they are virtual floating cities. These maritime hotels, however, lack fundamental safety policies, protocols, and procedures to protect passengers from harm. They generally fly foreign flags, so they do not have to comply with United States laws. Additionally, antiquated laws and contractual language limiting passenger rights and remedies put travelers in a precarious position and require aggressive litigation. Find out more at LeightonLaw.com.

Resort torts continue in the cruise industry...

Not a Vacation CELEBRATION

The FBI is investigating a passenger reported missing from a Celebration Cruise Line ship, The Sun Sentinel reported. She was last seen in the ship's casino around 1 a.m. and was reported missing by her boyfriend at 8 a.m. The ship was in international waters at the time, after leaving the Grand Bahamas Island port at 6 p.m. the night before. The card-swiping system that records passengers' whereabouts indicated that she was last registered as being on board.

COSTA Catastrophes

On Monday, the Costa Cruise Line found itself in the news again, this time with a fire aboard the Costa Allegra. The fire set the ship adrift without power in the Indian Ocean and was towed to the Seychelles by a French fishing vessel, according to the Miami Herald. The fire originated in a generator room and none of the 1,000-plus people aboard were reported injured. Still, when the emergency alarm sounded and emergency instructions were announced, the 600+ passengers and 400+ crew members must have feared the worst, given Costa's shipwreck January 13 in the Mediterranean, where 25 people were killed, many injured, and seven remain missing.

Until rescue arrived, passengers reportedly were likely to sleep on outside decks since lack of power also meant no lights or air conditioning. Unfortunately that would put passengers closer to the risks involved with the threat of piracy - a reality in the region. Reportedly there was an Italian military team on anti-pirate duty aboard the ship.

CARNIVAL Crime

The Celebration and Costa incidents occurred the same week it was reported that guests aboard the Carnival Splendor cruise ship were robbed at gunpoint in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Twenty-two cruise passengers on an on-shore excursion were returning from a nature hike by bus, back to Puerto Vallarta. The bus was stopped by the armed men who stole cameras, cash and watches from the passengers. Carnival has since suspended that particular nature trail tour. Princess Cruises reportedly stopped docking in Puerto Vallarta last fall due to the dangers associated with the ongoing drug war in Mexico. Cruise lines also cancelled visits to Mazatlan, a port north of Puerto Vallarta, after a fatal shooting in a hotel parking lot in the city's tourist region.

A lawsuit filed in Miami-Dade Circuit court Tuesday against Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines Inc. and its Costa subsidiary seeks $528 million in damages resulting from the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster.

The lawsuit names 39 plaintiffs who experienced the shipwreck in the Mediterranean last month in which 17 people have been confirmed dead and 15 are still missing. The damages sought include $78 million in compensatory damages and $450 in punitive damages, reports the Miami Herald.

On the same day, Costa announced that it would compensate passengers 11,000 euros plus reimbursement for cruise ticket costs and extra travel expenses. The deadline for passengers to accept the offer was extended to March 31. Costa released a statement regarding those who suffered the greatest losses:

"The families of deceased and missing victims and guests who were injured will be covered under a separate proposal based on their individual circumstances."

There is a question as to whether the half-billion dollar lawsuit will hold in Florida, given that the cruise tickets Costa issues require legal action to be filed in Italy. The counterargument is that Carnival Corp., a Miami-based company, and Costa are the same entity. More lawsuit filings in Florida are expected for passengers aboard the fated Costa cruise ship.

Cruise ships are virtual floating cities and prime locations for resort torts. As maritime hotels, they can lack fundamental safety policies, protocols, and procedures to protect passengers from harm. They generally fly foreign flags, so they do not have to comply with United States laws. Antiquated laws and contractual language limiting passenger rights and remedies can put travelers in a precarious position and require aggressive litigation. To learn more about Resort Torts, visit Leighton Law.

Illness has struck an additional 173 passengers and crew members on the same ship - Princess Cruise Line's Crown Princess - that contaminated nearly 400 people just days ago.

The Miami Herald reports that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed widespread outbreaks of the illness onboard. After the first outbreak, the ship was to be 'given special cleanings upon their return to their Fort Lauderdale homeport," delaying the next cruise, according to an MSNBC report. These specialized cleanings were apparently not enough to eliminate the illness.

Princess Cruise Lines released this statement:

"The enhanced disinfection of the ship in Fort Lauderdale will include bringing aboard additional cleaning crew to assist with a thorough sanitization of all public spaces and surfaces including soft furnishing and carpets, railings, door handles and the like. The staterooms will be sanitized multiple times before making up the rooms with fresh linens and towels on Saturday morning, just prior to passenger embarkation."

The company claims that the Crown Princess' next cruise will depart as scheduled on February 11.

According to the CDC, "norovirus illness can be serious in young children, the elderly, and people with other health conditions; it can lead to severe dehydration, hospitalization and even death."

ResortTorts are cases of civil liability for negligent or criminal acts that arise out of a resort, vacation or recreational setting. These can involve aspects of hotel and motel safety, cruise ship litigation, pleasure boating and jet ski incidents, amusement and theme park liability, aquatic, diving and swimming incidents, foreign travel and medical emergencies, gaming and casinos, aviation (commercial and general), transportation injuries, travel industry liability for crime victims, and medical care provided to vacationers.

ResortTorts can encompass a vast array of types of cases but they all have one thing in common: tourists, business travelers and locals alike are all exposed to risk while traveling, vacationing or engaging in resort or pleasure activities.

Resort torts could follow from the more than 450 passengers and 40 crew members aboard the Ruby Princess and Crown Princess cruise ships who came down with norovirus this week, a highly contagious gastrointestinal virus. Fort Lauderdale is the homeport for both ships.

A rash of the virus also broke out this week on Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas. The severity of the illness and symptoms experienced in these outbreaks has not been revealed but hours of sanitizing the ships were expected to delay the embarkation of passengers for the cruises scheduled to follow.

According to the CDC, "norovirus illness can be serious in young children, the elderly, and people with other health conditions; it can lead to severe dehydration, hospitalization and even death."

The virus is found in the vomit and stool of infected people and transmitted by consuming contaminated food or liquids, touching contaminated surfaces, or having direct contact with an infected person.

There is no vaccine to prevent infection nor a drug to treat those infected with it. The CDC cites cruise ships as one of the crowded, closed places where norovirus can quickly spread. Contagion can last three days or more after a person is recovered from the illness.

Committee Chairman John L. Mica (R-FL) said in the release that "The Costa Concordia tragedy is a wakeup call for the United States and international maritime organizations to carefully review and make certain we have in place all appropriate standards to ensure passengers' safety on cruise ships." He said that "The Committee will review the events of this specific incident, current safety measures and training requirements set by law and international maritime transportation agreements to ensure this mode of transportation remains as safe as possible."

Mica stated that the tragedy appeared to be preventable and the hearing is an effort to prevent such tragedies in the future. Current U.S. laws and regulations will be reviewed in relation to vessels at U.S. ports and in U.S. waters but they do not necessarily apply to Americans cruising internationally. The United Nations Agency that regulates international shipping, the International Maritime Organization, will review the details of the recent tragedy and the current international maritime safety treaty, the Safety of Life at Sea Convention.

Two U.S. law firms are filing class-action lawsuits against Costa Cruises, asking for at least $160,000 per passenger involved in last week's resort tort disaster, according to the BBC. The shipwreck left 11 people dead, hundreds injured, and 21 still missing.

Owned by Miami-based Carnival Group, Costa Cruises blamed the captain of the Costa Concordia for veering off course and crashing into a rock, causing the ship to half sink. The captain has denied the charges of suspected manslaughter, for which he remains under house arrest.

A civil claim is being filed against him in Italy while lawsuits will reportedly be filed in Miami this week against Costa Cruises, with claimants seeking compensation for "continued medical care, loss of earnings as well as the psychological impact they had suffered while trying to get off the ship," reports the BBC. Liability against the company will point to regular route deviations in the past, lack of safeguards on board, and the alarm system.

More than 100 claimants are expected to seek two to three times the minimum claim and some as much as one million Euros.

Costa Cruises is currently focused on managing the immediate urgencies of the disaster but a spokesperson stated that the company has asked passengers to detail their expenses so that they can be reimbursed. Rescue efforts for the missing continue with caution as the ship continues to sink. Fuel tanks are full and could potentially rupture, contaminating the Mediterranean Sea and shorelines.