A Wisconsin man accused Costa Cruise Lines of putting 2,000 people at risk by proceeding with a cruise in early March, arguing the company intentionally concealed that a passenger had disembarked due to symptoms of the coronavirus.
Paul Turner filed a class action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida this week against Costa Cruise Lines after the ship Costa Luminosa disembarked for a 20-day cruise on March 5 after a customer who was sick with symptoms of COVID-19 disembarked Feb. 29 from the ship’s prior excursion. That passenger later died.
The lawsuit argues the ship turned around within hours after returning to port, allowing the new group of passengers to board without a warning of the prior traveler having been on the ship suffering from COVID-19 symptoms. Had the company informed the passengers of the situation, they would not have boarded, the lawsuit read.
The 36-page complaint said the cruise industry was also aware of the pandemic after cruise ships were combating the spread in February, referencing the seven deaths from passengers aboard the Diamond Princess.
The class action argues Mr. Turner and other passengers aboard the Costa Luminosa contracted the coronavirus or are at risk of suffering an injury — and even death — due to the cruise line’s negligence.
Costa Cruise Lines, which is owned by Carnival Corporation, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the litigation.
