IN ACTION AGAINST CRUISE LINE, SEXUALLY ASSAULTED INCOMPETENT HAD THREE YEARS FROM THE DATE OF THE ASSAULT TO HAVE A GUARDIAN APPOINTED AND THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS RAN FROM THE DATE OF APPOINTMENT OF THE GUARDIAN
VIVIAN L. BOEHNEN, etc., et al., Appellants, vs. CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES, INC., et al., Appellees.
CASE NO. 3D99-2001
COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA, THIRD DISTRICT
2001 Fla. App. LEXIS 2487; 26 Fla. L. Weekly D 666
March 7, 2001, Opinion Filed
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Appellant mentally handicapped daughter sued appellee cruise line for breach of contract of carriage and vicarious liability for sexual assault and battery. Appellants challenged the judgment of the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County (Florida) dismissing their original and their amended complaints against appellee.
OVERVIEW: Appellant mentally handicapped daughter accompanied appellant mother on a cruise aboard appellee cruise line. During the cruise, appellee's entertainer sexually assaulted appellant daughter. As a result, appellant daughter became pregnant and gave birth to a boy. Appellant daughter brought suit against appellee, in her own capacity, alleging breach of contract of carriage and vicarious liability for sexual assault and battery. The court held that appellee could not shorten the statute of limitations period in 46 U.S.C.S. ß 763a for appellant daughter's maritime injury action because she was a mentally incompetent person without a legal guardian. The court concluded that 46 U.S.C.S. ß 183b(c) allowed a mentally incompetent person without a legal guardian, like appellant daughter, to bring an action up to three years from the date of appointment of guardian that was appointed within 3 years. Thus, appellant daughter timely filed her original complaint within three years and the trial court improperly dismissed her complaint.
OUTCOME:Judgment reversed and remanded; appellant daughter was mentally handicapped; thus, appellee cruise line could not limit the statute of limitations for her to file her complaint alleging breach of contract of carriage and vicarious liability for sexual assault and battery. Thus, trial court improperly dismissed appellant daughter's complaint.
