May 27, 2011
On May 19, 2010, Denise Kaba filed suit against Carnival Corporation, alleging she slipped and fell on a multi-colored pool deck surface on the Carnival Pride cruise ship August 22, 2009. Kaba was on a Caribbean cruise sailing from Baltimore with her husband as a passenger and slipped when she was moving some pool chairs. She suffered a fractured knee and underwent 6 surgeries in 1 1/2 years. The attorneys for Kaba argued the cruise line installed a resin surfaced pool deck that "was hard and slippery as ice." They said Carnival knew about numerous previous accidents on the same surface and on other ships and did nothing to make the surface safe. Carnival conceded liability and setting up a bench trial on damages alone. U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro found damages of just under $3 million: $1.96 million for future non-economic damages; $595,476 for past and future medical expenses; $200,000 for pain and suffering; $170,500 for loss of earnings capacity and $72,198 for prejudgment interest. If you would like to learn more about this decision, you may reach me through my LinkedIn profile at
http://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleoterovaldes or via email at miamipandi@comcast.net