The son of a 74-year-old man who died alone from COVID-19 after a vacation has filed a federal complaint against a cruise line for wrongful death and gross negligence.
Christopher Weidner sued Princess Cruise Lines, Carnival Corporation and Carnival PLC in the Central District of California over the death of his father Carl Weidner who boarded the M/V Grand Princess on Feb. 21.
“On or about March 4, 2020, Decedent called his niece and reported that passengers onboard the M/V Grand Princess were going to be quarantined and that he did not know when the ship would dock, or when he would be allowed to disembark,” wrote the plaintiff’s attorney Mary Alexander in the opening brief.
Weidner’s lawsuit is among 24 that were filed in the Central District of California against Princess Cruise Lines between March 14 and May 5.
“They made everybody stay in their cabin and some of these cabins are not very big and don’t have windows,” Alexander told the Southern California Record.
Alivia Owyoung Ender, public relations specialist with Princess Cruises, said the cruise line has been sensitive to the difficulties the COVID-19 outbreak has caused guests and crew.
“Our response throughout this process has focused on the well-being of our guests and crew within the parameters dictated to us by the government agencies involved and the evolving medical understanding of this new illness,” Ender told the Southern California Record. “We do not comment on any pending litigation.”
Weidner’s lawsuit alleges the cruise line boarded, without additional decontamination and screening protocols, more than 2,000 passengers and negligently chose not to inform them the ship was likely infested with COVID-19 due to prior passenger infections.
“A thousand crew stayed on the ship and it turns out they were sick already,” Alexander said in an interview. “They could have tried to clean the ship but they couldn't even do that. The right thing would have been to take the ship out of commission and, yes, they would have lost money but people come first and here, for instance, the cruise line put profit first. They should have given everybody their money back and left.”
The older Weidner was forced to spend days at Travis Air Force Base, was sent to California Pacific Medical Center, spent over two weeks in the hospital—ten days of which were spent on a respirator in a medically-induced coma—and subsequently died, according to the lawsuit.
“Princess really needs to be exposed for what they are,” said Weidner’s attorney. “There is a lack of protection of passengers, a disregard for passenger’s safety and safety in general. These ships are sailing around the world helping spread COVID-19 and bringing it to California. It's a public health issue.”
As of May 13, there were reportedly 4,379,611 coronavirus cases worldwide and 294,593 deaths. There are 69,382 positives cases statewide in California and 2,847 fatalities, according to the Department of Health.
The cruise line has implemented new safety precautions, according to their website.
They include:
-At embarkation, will require all guests and crew to participate in mandatory health screenings, which may include a thermal scan to check temperatures, and in some cases secondary screenings. Depending on the results, will deny certain individuals boarding if believed they could pose a risk to others.
-Establishing additional sanitation measures on all our ships, which include sanitizing frequently touched surfaces in all public areas – from tables and chairs to casino chips and fitness machines – even more often than before.
-Adding additional hand sanitizer dispensers in high-traffic areas around the ship.