Can You Sue for Food Poisoning on a Cruise Ship?
Cruise ships are typically very crowded, and illnesses might spread quickly among passengers. If you come down with symptoms of a foodborne illness and suffer serious damages as a result, can you sue the cruise ship for compensation?
Passengers can sue cruise ships for food poisoning if the ship’s negligence led to their illness. This typically happens when kitchen staff fails to follow food safety protocols and causes cross-contamination or improperly serves undercooked or raw food to passengers. To successfully sue and recover damages, our lawyers must prove causation, so prioritize documenting your symptoms immediately after recognizing them. In lawsuits against negligent cruise ships, victims can get compensation for all economic damages they have incurred, as well as compensation for their intangible damages, like pain and suffering.
For a free and confidential case review from Rivkind Margulies & Rivkind’s cruise ship injury lawyers, call (305) 204-5369 today.
Can You Sue a Cruise Ship for Food Poisoning?
You may be able to sue a cruise ship for food poisoning and the damages you incur from an illness, provided the company was negligent and is liable for your losses.
For example, our cruise ship injury lawyers may have to prove that the ship’s kitchen staff was not following food safety protocols and served contaminated food or water, or that the ship failed to mitigate an outbreak or known foodborne illness properly.
Getting sick after eating food on a cruise line does not necessarily mean you suffered food poisoning due to negligence. While viruses might transfer through contaminated food or water by touch, like norovirus, and quickly spread through a cruise line, the same viruses might also spread between passengers interacting, not by passengers consuming contaminated food. Cruises are common places for sicknesses, so protect yourself by washing your hands and taking other measures. While falling ill does not necessarily mean the cruise ship is liable, it could be if it did not properly warn passengers of a norovirus outbreak or other foodborne illness and take the appropriate steps to mitigate the spread.
The cruise line is not responsible for shielding you from the common cold or unknown infected passengers. This is what often makes food poisoning lawsuits against cruise ships so difficult, as defendants might argue plaintiffs became infected through other means, like coming in contact with another passenger or after eating something during a land excursion off the ship.
Most cruise ship injury claims must be brought within a year and often require a notice of a claim six months after the cause of action accrues. Because of this shorter filing deadline, contact our attorneys immediately after returning from a cruise where you suffered serious food poisoning.
How Can You Successfully Sue for Food Poisoning on a Cruise Ship?
To successfully sue for food poisoning on a cruise ship, our attorneys must prove the four elements necessary in any civil injury claim: you were owed a duty of care, which the defendant breached, causing your illness and damages.
Prove Duty of Care
When you purchase a passenger ticket and board a cruise ship, it owes you a relatively expansive duty of care. The cruise ship must provide reasonable security to ensure no non-passengers enter, address hazards to avoid injury to passengers, have good hiring practices to ensure the crew is not a danger to passengers, and follow food safety protocols to avoid spreading illness throughout the ship.
Prove Breach of Duty
We then have to establish the breach of duty that ultimately led to your food poisoning or other illness. Using witness statements from cruise ship staff could illuminate their training protocols and if they were properly followed. Testimony from experts regarding food safety standards and the importance of following them may be beneficial as well, and our attorneys can enlist the appropriate experts when preparing your claim.
Prove Causation
The most challenging aspect of food poisoning injury lawsuits against cruise ships is proving the breach of duty directly caused the victim’s illness. For example, the cruise line might argue that you fell ill after consuming something ashore, not on the ship, regardless of its adherence to food safety standards. To help prove causation, victims should seek medical attention or document their illness immediately after noticing symptoms. Evidence of when your symptoms began can help our lawyers more easily trace its cause back to a specific meal consumed on the ship. Statements from witnesses who observed the victim falling ill soon after consuming food on the cruise ship can also be beneficial, and our lawyers will prioritize interviewing eyewitnesses right away. During our investigation, our lawyers may also look for other passengers who have fallen ill because of the ship’s negligent food safety practices.
Prove Your Damages
Finally, our lawyers must prove the damages you incurred because of food poisoning or another illness on a cruise ship. In severe cases, victims might need to be hospitalized due to dehydration, a common symptom of food poisoning because of the constant vomiting and diarrhea. Infections from food poisoning might even cause kidney damage in some cases, requiring long-term treatment for some victims. Our attorneys will present proof of all medical damages you incurred due to food poisoning, as well as the cost of your return home from the cruise if you had to leave for medical treatment. Even if you are only out of work for a short time because of a foodborne illness, we can calculate your lost wages and seek compensation for them. We will not forget to quantify your non-economic damages either. Severe illness can be emotionally distressing in many ways, and you deserve compensation for your pain and suffering.
Call Our Lawyers About Your Cruise Ship Injury Case
Call Rivkind Margulies & Rivkind at (305) 204-5369 today to have our Miami cruise ship injury lawyers review your case for free.
