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Kreindler Settles Serious Injury Case After Dominican Republic Catamaran Tragedy
Update
May 11, 2022
Kreindler has settled the serious injury case on behalf of our client, a college student who sustained life-altering injuries during a catamaran “booze cruise” excursion in the Dominican Republic.
What Happened
Kreindler settled a case involving a college student who sustained serious personal injuries on March 20, 2019, during a “Spring Break” tour in the Dominican Republic that was organized, sold, and arranged by StudentCity.
StudentCity is a Massachusetts tour operator specializing in spring break tours to foreign destinations (StudentCity was acquired by the large European travel and tourism company, TUI Group in 2004). During a “booze cruise” organized, sponsored, and sold by StudentCity as part of their tour package, our client suffered extensive and life-altering injuries to his leg. His leg was shredded by the boat’s propeller when the vessel’s captain turned on the motors while our client was in the water. Because the cruise was operated by a third party, this and other cases like these pose legal hurdles concerning whether the tour operator can be held liable for an injury that occurred during an excursion that was sold by the tour operator as part of a “package” but operated by a third-party. Additional legal hurdles include overcoming arbitration and releases of liability contained in the online customer agreement.
We're confident that we will defeat these defenses. StudentCity says in its sales literature that it provides staff to supervise and provide for the safety of its students at all events and excursions. On the cruise in which our client was injured, StudentCity failed to have any staff on board the vessel to coordinate all activities, including the safe and orderly re-boarding of the vessel after the students engaged in water-related activities.
We will also attempt to prove that the boat operator was an implied or an apparent agent of StudentCity, rendering it liable for the negligent conduct of the captain.
In addition, the provisions within the release of liability are overly broad because they impermissibly seek to discharge liability for StudentCity’s gross negligence and recklessness. Because the releases are contained in a standard form contract of adhesion, the court cannot limit the releases to permissibly discharging liability for simple negligence, but rather, the overbroad clauses must be stricken in their entirety.
According to a November 3, 2019, article in The Salem News:
“Shane, now 22, was a junior at the State University of New York in Binghamton last fall when he met a campus representative for StudentCity, who eventually persuaded Shane and his friends to plan a spring break trip to Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic, for the following March.
The package he and his friends purchased included a “booze cruise.” The pamphlets promoting the trip noted that “on-location” StudentCity staff would be present “24/7,” according to the complaint.
But according to the lawsuit, the “booze cruise” turned out to be on board a catamaran called “Escandaloso,” which was not on the list of previously vetted and approved boats and was not inspected by anyone from the company prior to the March 20 trip.
Nor was any StudentCity employee on board for the trip, only two young men serving as bartenders and a captain, the lawsuit states. The boat was also overcrowded.”
Kreindler has represented many clients injured on foreign tours sold and arranged by tour companies based in the United States. By developing legal arguments and supporting facts to establish that tour operators have a duty to provide for the safety of persons injured on excursions operated by third parties, we have obtained substantial settlements for our clients. We successfully represented the family of a young woman who lost her life in a prior case against StudentCity.
Kreindler is committed to securing the largest settlements possible for victims and their families who have suffered injuries during tour accidents.
With a record of success in representing victims injured during tour excursions, Kreindler is prepared to advise and represent clients both nationally and internationally. For more information about our international tourism practice, please visit our practice area page: Travel & Tourism Accidents.
About Kreindler & Kreindler
Kreindler is one of the largest and most distinguished aviation accident law firms in the world. Since 1950, our attorneys have served as lead counsel in nearly every major commercial aviation disaster litigation. Additionally, we have handled countless private, charter, military, general aviation, and helicopter accident cases. Our partners have authored numerous highly acclaimed books, articles, and treatises on aviation litigation, including the leading treatise in the field, Aviation Accident Law.
We wrote the book
Kreindler has written the book on aviation accident law. Our partners have authored numerous highly acclaimed books, articles and treatises, including the leading treatise in the aviation litigation field, Aviation Accident Law.
