Cruise passengers contracted virus on ship, judge rules

Because a COVID-19 infected passenger couldn't show exactly when he contracted the virus on the Ruby Princess that left from Australia in early March, a federal judge is giving him a chance to try again.

Michael and Diane Fish and Fred Mayer, who set sail on the Ruby Princess on March 8, sued Princess Cruise Lines LTD, arguing the company's careless approach to passenger safety caused them to contract the virus.

The plaintiffs did get infected on the boat, U.S. Judge Dale S. Fischer of the Central District of California found in her ruling Friday. But there must be more clarification as to the causation between the passengers' infection and Princess' conduct, the judge said. The passengers must explain exactly how it was or when they got COVID-19. Fischer granted in part Princess' motion to dismiss the complaint.

Plaintiffs' attorney, Debi F. Chalik said she only needed to specify the day her clients got sick, otherwise the lawsuit is fine and its claims remain intact. Michael Fish et al. v. Princess Cruise Lines, LTD 2:20-CV-03894 (C.D. Cal., filed April 29, 2020)

"I'm pleased the judge recognized that 99 percent of the defendant's arguments were irrelevant," Chalik said.

The trio say they suffered physical pain, emotional distress and lost wages after having to quarantine. They also alleged each person suffered physical injury as a result of the defendants' negligence, according to the lawsuit.

While Princess has won dismissals against other passengers who didn't get infected but sued for emotional distress, its arguments are entirely irrelevant to the Fish action, Fischer wrote in her ruling. Passengers Ronald and Eva Weissberger had their complaint tossed, as they never got infected nor suffered physical symptoms, and only sought emotional distress damages based on their fear of being infected while on the ship. Chalik also represents the Weissbergers, and several other similarly-situated passengers. Ronald and Eva Weissberger v. Princess Cruise Lines, LTD 2:20CV02328 (C.D. Cal., filed Jul. 14, 2020)

Princess previously argued the Fish plaintiffs don't adequately show that its conduct was the proximate cause of their infection, to which the judge agreed. Princess also argued the passengers only at some undisclosed time after returning home tested positive. That makes it difficult to determine whether they got the virus at a port of call through an asymptomatic individual after getting off the ship, or after returning home to Florida, Princess argued.

The Fish plaintiffs could have gotten ill from some other source, especially due to the virility of the novel virus, Princess said.

While the Fish plaintiffs don't have to rule out all other possible causes of harm, the lawsuit has to include factual allegations to allow the judge to infer that Princess's conduct during the voyage caused the alleged injury, Fischer decided.

"Here, plaintiffs have failed to allege the amount of time between the alleged exposure and the date they began experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or received a positive test result -- a key fact necessary to render the causation allegations plausible, not merely possible," according to the decision.

Fischer did not strike passengers' claim for punitive damages, as "this is not a case where harm was inflicted without alleged physical injury," the decision said.

An amended complaint must be filed by Sept. 17.