Cruise Lovers

Last month, a Florida federal jury found that the cruise company was primarily responsible for the injuries and financial damages Elardi suffered while a passenger on the M/S Explorer of the Seas on June 1, 2018, when the sofa he sat on dropped about nine inches, according to court records.The jury said Royal Caribbean should pay Elardi $1.5 million for future medical expenses and $700,000 for past and future pain and suffering. However, the verdict also said the passenger was 15% responsible, as he had acted negligently by smoking “after the sofa incident.”When the sofa seat fell, the drop broke the containment of Elardi’s C7-T1 spinal segment, according to his motion. This caused a more severe spinal injury that required a fusion surgery.Elardi argues that Royal Caribbean presented no evidence during trial that directly showed his alleged smoking after the injury caused a delay in recovery or interfered with the fusion surgery. Rather, the company relied on “nonspecific” and general testimony that cigarette usage is not healthy and can hinder treatment.Elardi said this shouldn’t have been enough to support Royal Caribbean’s affirmative defense arguing that Elardi failed to mitigate damages.”Were the shoe on the other foot — and if this plaintiff’s claim somehow required differentiated medical proof that, ‘but for’ his post-incident smoking, his spinal cord injury would not have occurred and/or would have had a better outcome — on the present record this defendant would seek, and this court would not hesitate to grant, a judgment as a matter of law for the moving party,” Elardi argued.The sofa in question would’ve been 18 years old at the time of Elardi’s injury, which is nearly 13 years beyond the “useful life” of furniture in the hospitality industry, Elardi argued in trial. The sofa was also not “commercial grade,” meaning the manufacturer didn’t design it for use in high-activity locations like hotels or cruise ships.A furniture manufacturing expert brought into the case, Leonard Backer, said this was one of the worst sofas he’d ever seen in the business.”In my 28 years in the commercial furniture industry, I do not ever remember seeing a sofa in a higher-end hospitality installation in as poor a condition as this one,” Backer said in his expert report.Elardi is represented by Michael D. Eriksen of Eriksen Law Firm.Royal Caribbean is represented by Darren W. Friedman and Lizbeth Michel-Escandell of Foreman Friedman PA.The case is John Elardi v. Royal Caribbean Cruises LTD, case number 1:19-cv-25035, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Miami Division.#lawyer #callrizzuto #wego2bat4 #shorts