After surviving the worst cruise ship accident in the past 50 years, passengers of Costa Concordia have elected to amend their personal injury lawsuit against Carnival Cruise Lines. Citing employee incompetence and lack of organization as the boat capsized off the coast of Italy, they have chosen to bring additional charges of negligence against the ship’s captain and crew, claiming that their personal injuries were directly caused by the crew’s inability to handle the situation. In a statement released by their attorney, Mark Bern, the 39 plaintiffs are said to be seeking individual damages for their losses and injuries incurred in the tragic boating accident.
Even though the has offered all of the passengers of the Costa Concordia more than $14,000 each, the plaintiffs want far more in compensation for the boating accident on the basis that that personal injury settlement falls well short of justice. “The plaintiffs will seek punitive damages as a result of the nature of the conduct of the Costa Concordia’s officers and staff, which demonstrated a reckless disregard for human life and property,” the statement said Monday. “These passengers were left terrified and unguided in a desperate situation while the captain was already safely in a lifeboat with his clothes dry and his luggage in hand,” Bern said.
“Once the surviving passengers reached land, their ordeal was far from over, because Carnival failed to offer them the barest courtesies and assistance, leaving them in a country where most were aliens, with only the clothes on their back, no money and no passports.” The original U.S. suit was filed by 6 passengers last month and demanded $460 million in compensation from Carnival Cruise Lines, the parent company of Costa Cruise Lines, who own the Costa Concordia.
At the time of the boating accident, the Costa Concordia had 4,229 people aboard when it ran aground off the coast of Tuscany. 32 wrongful deaths are believed to have occurred in the tragedy, although the bodies of 15 people have yet to be found. Captain Francesco Schettino is under house arrest, and he faces charges of manslaughter and abandoning ship before all passengers were evacuated. If you have suffered a personal injury as a result of employee neglegence, contact our New York City personal injury law firm so that our personal injury attorneys can fight for you.