State Dram Shop Law Did Not Apply In Admiralty
LAWRENCE W. HALL, Appellant, vs. ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES, LTD., Appellee.
CASE NO. 3D03-2132
COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA, THIRD DISTRICT
2004 Fla. App. LEXIS 10820; 2004 AMC 1913; 29 Fla. L. WeeklyD 1672
July 21, 2004, Opinion Filed
This is an appeal from an order dismissing an amended complaint which alleged that the plaintiff, a paying passenger on the defendant's cruise ship was injured on the high seas when, after having been served alcohol by the vessel's employees to and obviously past the point of intoxication, he staggered from a lounge, and while unable to look after himself fell down two flights of open stairways.
The order under review is erroneous and must be reversed because the complaint clearly stated a cause of action for breach of the defendant's duty to exercise reasonable care for the safety of its passengers, as is established by the general maritime law applicable here.
