Couple says cruise line was negligent to let thousands of passengers on sick ship

Trial attorney Debi Chalik of Chalik and Chalik, a personal injury law firm based in South Florida, filed a federal lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California against Princess Cruise Lines LTD. for negligence in connection to the deadly coronavirus outbreak on behalf of a couple currently stranded on the Grand Princess ship. Eva (69) and Ron (75) Weissberger went on a bucket list cruise to Hawaii, now they are stuck on a ship packed with confirmed coronavirus patients.

The lawsuit alleges that Princess had knowledge that at least one of the passengers who disembarked from the cruise on February 21, 2020 was showing symptoms of the deadly coronavirus, yet made the conscious decision to continue sailing the voyage that same day, welcoming another three thousand passengers on the infected ship. To make matters worse, there are 62 passengers who remained on the cruise, who were also on the prior voyage that were exposed to the infected passengers.

Following this, no additional precautions were taken while onboarding passengers; temperatures were not taken, no detailed health questionnaire was given. Even after two passengers on the same Grand Princess cruise ship died on the previous sailing, the crew and all passengers were not immediately quarantined or tested for coronavirus.

The ship has been sequestered off the coast of San Francisco since Thursday, and the Weissbergers are locked in their room. Ron Weissberger is a heart patient and concerned about his medication and possible infection as he has a cough now. To date, there have been 21 confirmed cases of coronavirus on the ship, 19 crewmembers and two passengers. One ill crew member left the ship early and disembarked to seek care while in the Hawaiian Islands.

The suit claims Princess chose profits over the safety of its passengers, crew and general public by knowingly continuing with the planned cruise and loading passengers onto a ship that they knew was contaminated. Incredibly, Princess is still taking bookings for this very ship and not refunding money. If the Weissbergers had been given any information about the risk of coronavirus exposure they would have never boarded. Now they are confined in their room and panicked, knowing they are in the high-risk group for coronavirus infection.

ABOUT CHALIK AND CHALIK

Chalik & Chalik Law Offices is a Florida law firm founded by attorneys Jason Chalik and Debi Chalik. The firm focuses exclusively on personal injury to better serve those harmed through the negligence of others. Their practice areas include cruise ship negligence, tire accidents, car accidents, slip and fall accidents and birth injuries, in addition to areas relevant to our Florida clients, like boating accidents and parasailing accidents. Chalik & Chalik has been helping car accident victims in Fort Lauderdale and victims of any type of injury negligence for decades. They have 12 locations across the state of Florida. To contact them call (855) 456-4817.