ONE YEAR TICKET LIMITATION FOR FILING SUIT UPHELD AGAINST INJURED PASSENGER
Barbara Tateosian et al. v. Celebrity Cruise Services,Ltd.
No. 99-517-Appeal.
SUPREME COURT OF RHODE ISLAND
768 A.2d 1248; 2001 R.I. LEXIS 95
April 12, 2001, Filed
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Plaintiff passengers appealed the judgment of the Superior Court, Kent County (Rhode Island) which granted summary judgment to defendant cruise line and dismissed the negligence action.
OVERVIEW:Plaintiff couple purchased two cruise line tickets on defendant's ship. Attached to their ticket was a contract which limited the time to bring a negligence action to one year and selected the forum. After embarking on their cruise, the wife became sick from food poisoning. Plaintiffs did not file their suit until 18 months after the accident. The ticket contract required suit be brought within one year of the time of injury as allowed by maritime law. The trial court dismissed their action. The appellate court found the contract gave clear notice of the cruise contract terms because the warnings on the embarkation coupons were sufficiently obvious and were emphatically brought to the plaintiffs' attention. In addition, after receiving notice of the injury, defendant reminded plaintiffs that all rights were reserved including those set out in the cruise ticket contract. Therefore, the contract was fundamentally fair and plaintiffs were bound by its terms.
OUTCOME:The judgment of the trial court was affirmed.
