Noted Maritime Lawyer Robert J. Mongeluzzi Says Carnival Cruise Line’s CEO “Seems More Concerned About His Sinking Stock Price Than Human Life” As Company “Rushes to Relaunch Beleaguered Fleet”
PHILADELPHIA, PA (April 16, 2020) – Robert J. Mongeluzzi, the noted maritime trial lawyer whose team has represented passenger-victims in maritime disasters on vessels ranging from death-trap duck boats and unsafe dive boats to luxury cruise ships, today said the Carnival Cruise Line (CCL: NYSE) leadership “seems more concerned about the company’s sinking stock price than human life” as it “rushes to relaunch its fleet amid the raging COVID-19 pandemic.”
Mr. Mongeluzzi, who leads the Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky P.C. (SMB) law firm, said he was horrified to read a published report – Carnival Execs Knew: Bloomberg – in which the cruise line CEO downplayed Carnival’s inept response to the global disaster, stating, “Nothing’s perfect, OK?”, and that hindsight would prove they “did great.”
If they did such a great job, why did the CDC order them to shut down? Why did otherwise healthy passengers and crew members on their Princess-affiliated ships get infected and die? They did a horrific job protecting the health and safety of their guests and their employees and will have to face the consequences through the justice system.
Robert J. Mongeluzzi
Attorney Andrew R. Duffy, a partner at SMB, and a former Naval legal officer said, “It would be extremely disappointing if Carnival were to get a government bail-out to save their sinking fortunes, but they must not be absolved for their actions that appear to have put tens of thousands of lives at risk. When worldwide warnings sounded about the deadly coronavirus, they ignored those alerts, and instead of ordering all ships back to port, they set still sail, failing to protect passengers and their crews.”
Jeffrey P. Goodman, another partner in the firm and member of the maritime litigation team, added, “Carnival is a multi-billion-dollar enterprise that abandoned numerous principles of maritime safety, they placed their passengers and the public in harm’s way. In terms of liability, we believe that Carnival faces legal exposure from not only passengers and crew, but also from anyone, anywhere who might have been, or will be, infected as a result of contact with someone from COVID-infested Carnival ships.”
Carnival, whose North American service was shut down through early May by CDC, just announced plans to restart on June 27th.
The Mongeluzzi firm currently represents numerous victims of the fatal California Conception dive boat fire and recently successfully litigated more than two dozen cases resulting from the Branson, Missouri duck boat disaster that resulted in 17 deaths. Attorneys Mongeluzzi, Duffy, and Goodman can be reached for interviews as follows:
Contacts:
Robert J. Mongeluzzi / rmongeluzzi@smbb.com / 215.850.6571
Andrew R. Duffy / aduffy@smbb.com / 609.320.4919
Jeffrey P. Goodman / jgoodman@smbb.com / 215.840.6450
Steph Rosenfeld / steph@idadvisors.com / 215.514.4101