Henderson v. Carnival Corporation, 90-503-CIV.
| Court | United States District Courts. 11th Circuit. United States District Courts. 11th Circuit. Southern District of Florida |
| Citation | 125 F.Supp.2d 1375 |
| Docket Number | No. 90-503-CIV.,90-503-CIV. |
| Parties | Jennifer HENDERSON and Joseph Henderson, Plaintiffs, v. CARNIVAL CORPORATION, Defendant. |
| Decision Date | 29 September 2000 |
v.
CARNIVAL CORPORATION, Defendant.
Steven J. Irwin, Owen & Galloway, Gulfport, MS, Nathan Dorlon Clark, Coral Reef Law Offices, Palmetto Bay, FL, for Plaintiffs.
Edward S. Polk, Miami, FL, Rodney E. Gould, Rubin Hay & Gould, Framingham, MA, for Defendant.
Page 1376
K. MICHAEL MOORE, District Judge.
THIS CAUSE came before the Court upon Defendant's Motion to Dismiss or, in the Alternative, Motion for Summary Judgment (DE # 4). Both parties submitted affidavits, which the court considered in assessing their arguments; therefore the Motion will be treated as one for summary judgment.
Plaintiffs spent their honeymoon aboard a cruise ship owned by Defendant Carnival. On their second day of the cruise, Plaintiffs purchased tickets from Carnival for an excursion, on a catamaran in St. Lucia, called the Soufriere Cruise Adventure. On the trip returning to the cruise ship, the catamaran struck a coral reef and Plaintiffs were injured. None of these facts are disputed by the parties. Defendants move for dismissal of the complaint or, in the alternative, judgment as a matter of law because, they assert, Plaintiffs' claims are barred by a disclaimer that appeared on the cruise ticket, and because Plaintiffs' injuries were caused by the acts of an independent third party, for whom Carnival cannot be held responsible. In their response, Plaintiffs allege that Carnival did own and operate the catamaran, which bore the Carnival logo, and therefore Carnival is liable for their injuries. Alternatively, Plaintiffs argue that as a common carrier, Defendant may not limit its duty to safely transport passengers to and from shore.
I. Summary Judgment Standard
Under Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure:
The judgment sought shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.
Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). Summary judgment may be entered only where there is no genuine issue of material fact. See Twiss v. Kury, 25 F.3d 1551 (11th Cir.1994). The moving party has the burden of meeting this exacting standard. Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 157, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970). In applying this standard, the district court must view the evidence and all factual inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. Id. at 157, 90 S.Ct. 1598.
However, the non-moving party
[m]ay not rest upon the mere allegations and denials of the adverse party's pleading, but the adverse party's response, by affidavits or as otherwise provided in this rule, must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.
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...renders all other facts immaterial and requires the court to grant the motion for summary judgment." Henderson v. Carnival Corp., 125 F.Supp.2d 1375, 1376 (S.D.Fla.2000). IV. THE MONTREAL A. BACKGROUND The Montreal Convention entered into force in the United States on November 4, 2003 and s......
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...Caribbean cites to cases that do not address that proposition and, thus, are inapplicable here. See, e.g., Henderson v. Carnival Corp., 125 F.Supp.2d 1375, 1377 (S.D.Fla.2000) (upholding the applicability of a disclaimer on excursion tour ticket where the plaintiff sought to hold Carnival, ......
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Benjamin v. Holy Cross Hosp., Inc., CASE NO. 11-62142-CIV-MARRA/HOPKINS
...renders all other facts immaterial and requires the court to grant the motion for summary judgment." Henderson v. Carnival Corp., 125 F. Supp. 2d 1375, 1376 (S.D. Fla. 2000). "Pro se pleadings are held to a less stringent standard than pleadings drafted by attorneys and will, therefore, be ......
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Isbell v. Carnival Corp.
...renders all other facts immaterial and requires the court to grant the motion for summary judgment." Henderson v. Carnival Corp., 125 F.Supp.2d 1375, 1376 (S.D.Fla.2000). Plaintiff maintains that summary judgment is inappropriate because there remain genuine issues of material fact. However......
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Chapter § 3.02 CRUISE SHIPS
...4559231 (S.D. Fla. 2008) (passenger suffers injuries on a catamaran known as the "Thriller Powerboat"); Henderson v. Carnival Corp., 125 F. Supp. 2d 1375 (S.D. Fla. 2000) (passenger injured riding a catamaran during excursion).[384] See e.g., Evans v. Nantucket Community Sailing, Inc., 582 ......