The Federal Court of Australia has made a landmark ruling in a class action against Carnival Cruise, the largest cruise operator in the world, regarding the mishandling of a COVID-19 outbreak on the Ruby Princess cruise ship. The court determined that Carnival was negligent in allowing the ship to disembark despite advice from health officials, and should have cancelled the voyage. The outbreak resulted in nearly 700 passengers contracting the virus.
Justice Angus Stewart, in his summary of the ruling, stated that cancelling the cruise would not have been overly burdensome and would have mitigated the significant risk of a coronavirus outbreak. He found that Carnival was negligent and in breach of their duty of care. The court also ruled that Carnival had breached Australian Consumer Law guarantees and failed to take appropriate measures to protect passengers from COVID-19.
It was revealed that Carnival made misleading claims about the safety of the cruise and its handling of monitoring, screening, and sanitation protocols. The court held the cruise operator accountable for these false representations.
Susan Karpil, a retired nurse and the lead plaintiff in the class action, represented over 800 individuals in the case. She contracted COVID-19 during the cruise and passed the disease to her husband, who suffered severe illness and spent two months in the hospital. While Ms. Karpil sought damages for personal injuries, distress, and disappointment, the court determined that her illness was mild and her injuries did not support the severity of her claim. However, she was awarded reimbursement for out-of-pocket medical expenses and the cost of her trip.
The class-action trial has been ongoing for over a year and is considered a world-first. Ms. Karpil emphasized that the victory is bittersweet, as 28 lives were lost during the cruise, leaving lasting pain for many families.