Resort Injury Lawyer Blog

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.

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.

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.

One week following the Titanic-like cruise ship disaster in the Mediterranean, the death toll reports have risen to 11, with 21 people still unaccounted for. The search for the missing has been paused several times due to the dangers of the ship's instability atop the rock where it sits half submerged. The magnitude of the resort tort lawsuits to follow is yet to be seen.

The Coast Guard transcript of the exchange between the Guard and the ship's captain was released to the press and revealed a contradiction from the captain's original public statement following the accident. The day of the incident, the captain stated that reports of him abandoning ship before the evacuation was complete were untrue. He stated that he and his officers were the last to leave the ship.

Translations of the transcript vary. Among the pieces published by The Washington Post:

(Captain) Schettino insisted he was on a rescue boat coordinating efforts.

"Alright," Schettino said. "I'm going."

Among the pieces published by Reuters:

Captain to Coast Guard: "I am on a life boat of rescue, I am under here. I am not going anywhere. I am here."

Captain to Coast Guard: "I am going on board."

As the Act requires, Royal Caribbean recently reported an alleged rape aboard one of its ships to the FBI and BSO, and allowed both to investigate the ship and port. The ship's 'guest care team' also offered the alleged victim assistance including medical care and counseling, according to a statement from the cruise line's manager of Global Corporate Communications, as reported in the Sun Sentinel.

The Sentinel article says that a 15-year-old girl from Iowa said she was lured from a teen dance club on board to a private room, where a 15-year-old boy said there would be a party. Instead, she said, there was only another man there, and the two of them raped her.

Both males live in Brazil, are being held in Broward, and appeared in court last Wednesday. The elder, a 20-year-old, was accused of one count of committing a lewd and lascivious act, ordered not leave the tri-county area and denied access to his or a replacement passport. The younger was charged with lewd and lascivious battery and held at the Broward Juvenile Assessment Center.

The International Cruise Victims Association (ICV) represents victims of crime on cruise ships, their families and friends, and individuals concerned about the problems of victimization and disappearances on cruise ships. The organization advocates for legislative reform to protect passengers from crimes and increase the rights of victims of crimes that do occur on cruise ships, and provides support to victims of crimes occurring on cruise ships.

The National Association for Victims of Crimes and the Rape, Assault, and Incest National Network (RAINN) have joined ICV in the effort to promote reform to the Cruise Line Industry.

The National Crime Victim Bar Association is a network of attorneys and allied professionals dedicated to facilitating civil actions brought by crime victims. Crime victims may be able to file civil lawsuits against perpetrators and responsible third parties for the damages the victims suffered as a result of the crime. Personal injury attorney John Elliott Leighton serves on the Advisory Board of the National Crime Victim Bar Association.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that driving while distracted contributes to one in every four car crashes. By some estimates, in as many as half of all crashes (there were six million last year), cell phone use was involved.

A slight departure from Resort Torts, my campaign against DWD -"Driving While Distracted" - is an issue I am passionate about.

It's encouraging that a jury has awarded the family of a woman killed in a car crash - believed to be caused by a texting driver - $8.8 million. But much is left to be done to keep peoples' eyes on the road and not distracted with the myriad electronic devices they carry and those that are even built into the car.

The Miami Herald reported that during the 60-day legislative session that begins this month, Florida legislators might consider a ban on texting while driving. Such bans are already enacted in 35 states. The current proposal, described by the Herald as "pretty mild," would make text-driving a secondary offense, meaning that a citation for it could only be issued in conjunction with another offense such as speeding or reckless driving. The ban would also apply to typing emails and instant messages. The first offense would render a $30 fine, and the second within five years would cost $60 and three points.
In the case of the $8.8 million verdict, text-driving appears to have again cost someone their life. In that incident, the victim was a mother of two young children. Her vehicle was struck by a 17-year-old who was driving between 61 and 69 miles per hour in a 40 mph zone, and weaving through traffic. An outgoing text on his phone was recorded two minutes before the paramedics were notified of the accident. The teenager was given a $2,000 fine and charged with speeding and reckless driving, but not vehicular homicide.

The National Transportation Board recently recommended that the Federal Government ban cell phone and all texting device use while driving. People tend to agree. Surveys reveal increasingly more people admitting to texting while driving, but the vast majority of them also say it should be illegal.

Naples Bay Resort evacuated 24 hotel guests and 20 employees from its premises after an explosion occurred around 9am Thursday.

The Naples Daily News reported that an electrical worker installing meters at the Resort suffered first-, second- and possibly third-degree burns to his upper body from an electrical flash fire. The cause of the explosion is unknown and is being investigated.

The Naples Fire Chief stated that the electrician's life was saved only because he was wearing a face shield, eye protection and a fire-resistant shirt. The fireball was reportedly hot enough to vaporize nearby metal. A hotel corridor sustained smoke damage. The electrician was a subcontractor for FPL. Damages were estimated at $20,000.

Until the investigation is complete, negligence and/or liability for the explosion and its cause could only be speculative.

Related Resort Tort case law:

• In fulfilling its duty to maintain its premises in a reasonably safe condition, "a landowner must conduct inspections appropriate for the premises involved."
Yuniter v. A & A Edgewater of Florida, Inc., 707 So.2d 763 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998)

A deadly combination of factors in a Philadelphia waterway has left two tourists dead, a father of two young children jailed for a year, and several lawsuits still pending.

On the day of the incident, the operator of a 33-foot "Ride the Ducks" sightseeing boat anchored in a shipping channel of the Delaware River after detecting smoke and suspecting an onboard fire, cited CNN International. There were 35 passengers and two crew members on board.

Video footage shown on The Today Show revealed the shocking footage of a towed 250-foot sludge barge running over and submerging the tourist boat in a matter of seconds. Amazingly, only two tourists died in the accident.

The pilot of the tugboat towing the barge has been sentenced to one year and one day in prison and three years of supervised release for his role in the incident, after teary pleading by himself and his wife in court for leniency with the potential four-year sentence. The pilot admitted he was distracted by his cell phone and laptop prior to the collision, in part due to a call from his wife regarding complications that morning during their 6-year-old's eye surgery.

Litigation is still pending with K-Sea Transportation of East Brunswick, New Jersey and Ride the Ducks of Norcross, Georgia. Both companies have asked the federal government to limit their liability in the incident, according to the CNN report.

An NTSB report showed several people involved were on cell phones or computers at the time of the accident. Driving While Distracted now carries new meaning. CNN reported that an NTSB representative said the incident was "another tragic example of the deadliness of distraction."

While this incident occurred on a waterway, cell phone distraction while driving has been an issue of increasing concern for years. As of December 2008, there were 271 million cell phones in use in the United States, representing 84% of the country's population. Drivers are increasingly distracting themselves by chatting, texting and emailing while on the road, often resulting in dangerous accidents. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that driving while distracted contributes to one in every four car crashes. By some estimates, in as many as half of all crashes (there were six million last year), cell phone use was involved.

The widespread awareness of this problem has prompted government concern and states are now addressing the issue legislatively. Some states and municipalities have acted to ban texting while driving and/or driving with a handheld device, while six states - including Florida - have laws that prohibit local jurisdictions from enacting restrictions. In other states, localities are allowed to ban cell phone use or texting while driving. In October 2009, President Obama issued an order banning all 4.5 million federal employees from texting while driving.

Resort Torts are cases of civil liability for negligent or criminal acts in a resort, vacation or recreational setting. They can encompass a variety of legal cases, revealing that tourists, business travelers and locals alike are all exposed to risk while traveling, vacation, or engaging in resort or pleasure activities... including NIGHTCLUBS.

The Sun Sentinel reported this week that a nightclub in Broward County, advertised from Fort Pierce to Miami, is a regular stop for Sheriff's deputies and city paramedics, for illegal drugs being sold and used, and for teenagers who have passed out, overdosed, or having seizures.

Pompano Beach Mayor Lamar Fisher said he receives weekly calls about the facility, from parents complaining about it. He wants the club's electronic dance music shows at Club Cinema - which pull in more than 2,000 people - shut down.

The Sun Sentinel article quoted the owner of the production company responsible for many of the shows at Club Cinema as saying that "Anything to do with electronic music, there's going to be drugs."

From April to September this year, 20 people at Club Cinema were treated by city fire-rescue crews - 11 of them under age 18 and 6 of them 18-20-year-olds.

Mayor Fisher said during a commission meeting this week: "One of these times we're going to lose a life and it's uncalled for."

Resort Torts can include a wide variety of legal 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 and leisure activities.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, new filings with the state include the following injuries reported at Orlando theme parks:

Islands of Adventure
• A man from Puerto Rico had to have an eye removed after something stuck and lacerated it while he was riding the Dragon Challenge roller coaster in Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure. According to the Sentinel, the description in the report Universal provided the state was "eye discomfort".

Walt Disney World
• An 18-year-old woman lost consciousness and experienced seizure-like symptoms in Castaway Creek.
• A woman injured an ankle on Mayday Falls.
• A woman lost consciousness after riding Mission: Space.
• A 16-year-old girl had a seizure on Star Tours.
• A woman fell and broke her leg at Haunted Mansion.
• Another woman fell and broke her leg on Prince Charming's Regal Carousel.

Wet 'n' Wild, owned by NBCUniversal
• An 8-year-old boy suffered a head injury on Storm.

Amusement Park Injury Reporting
In 2001, The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), the amusement park industry trade group, began producing its own injuries-per-ride-cycle figure for amusement rides (roller coasters, Ferris wheels, etc.) operated at fixed site locations. Their methodology is that IAAPA asks its members each year to report the number of riders they've processed through the turnstiles of their mechanical amusement rides, and the number of customers they know of who were treated by a doctor for injuries caused by any of those rides. They then come up with a number of patron rides taken each year, and an aggregated count of ride-related injuries parks reported knowing about.

This reporting system does not collect any information useful for analysis of accident patterns or development of prevention strategies. No information is collected that would identify the ride, the park, the age/size of patrons involved, the type of accident, or the injuries sustained.

With 82 million visitors each year, Florida and its many tourist attractions give rise to Resort Torts - cases of civil liability for negligent or criminal in a resort, vacation or recreational setting. Click here to contact a board certified civil trial specialist with 26 years of experience representing victims of negligence in personal injury matters.