Suit Filed In Wrong Forum Against Cruise Line Transferred To U.S. District Court For Southern District Of Florida
DEBORAH HELLMAN, Plaintiff, v. ROYAL CARRIBEAN INTERNATIONAL Defendant.
Case No. 04 C 4041
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OFILLINOIS, EASTERN DIVISION
2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14177
July 8, 2005, Decided
July 8, 2005, Filed
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Plaintiff passenger, an Illinois resident, sued defendant cruise ship company for negligence, alleging she sustained serious injury to her arm as the result of a massage she received while a passenger aboard one of the company's ships. The company moved to dismiss the complaint for improper venue and lack of personal jurisdiction, or, in the alternative, to transfer the case to a court where venue was proper.
OVERVIEW: The passenger's ticket contract provided that the forum for any litigation would be Miami, Florida. She argued that the forum selection clause was unenforceable because she lacked adequate notice of the clause and because it was fundamentally unfair. The court disagreed. The contract stated in bold letters that the document was "Important" and admonished the passenger to "Read All Clauses"; the forum selection clause itself appeared in all capital letters. That the passenger chose not to read the contract was immaterial. She was presented with adequate notice of the forum selection clause and the opportunity to reject it within 30 days without incurring a substantial financial penalty. She failed to show that fundamental unfairness would result from prosecuting the claim in Florida rather than in Illinois, as there was at least some likelihood that discoverable material and/or witnesses related to the company's alleged negligence would at its corporate offices in Miami. The court determined that justice was better served by transfer under 28 U.S.C.S. 1406(a) rather than dismissal, since the contract limited the time period in which an action could be brought.
OUTCOME: The company's motion to dismiss was denied, and its motion to transfer was granted. The case was transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
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