Cruise Ship Law

MURRAY A. POWELL, Plaintiff, vs. CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES and DOES 1 through 50, Defendants.

No. CV-F-05-1238 REC DLB, (Docs. 4 & 10)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29982
November 17, 2005, Decided

PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Plaintiff filed an action in state court against defendant cruise line to recover for injuries he suffered during the cruise, and the cruise line removed the action to federal court. Plaintiff filed a motion to remand and the cruise line filed a motion to dismiss based on a forum selection clause in the parties' contract.

OVERVIEW: Plaintiff, an experienced traveler, booked a cruise with the cruise line, whose principal place of business was in Florida. The court first held that it was powerless to order a remand because plaintiff's sole ground for his motion -- the difficulty of traveling to the federal court -- was no a theory provided for in 28 U.S.C.S. § 1447(c). The court then held that the forum selection clause was valid and its enforcement was reasonable because (1) the physical characteristics of the contract and the circumstances surrounding purchase and retention of the ticket indicated that the forum-selection clause was reasonably communicated to plaintiff; (2) plaintiff failed to show that the cruise line had invoked the forum-selection clause fraudulently or to thwart litigation against it; and (3) plaintiff's physical disability did not require the court to refuse to enforce the forum-selection clause. However, rather than dismissing the action under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(3), the court held that, in the interest of justice, the case should be transferred under 28 U.S.C.S. § 1406 to the location of the federal court specified in the forum selection clause.

OUTCOME: The court denied plaintiff's motion to remand, denied defendant's motion to dismiss, and transferred the action to the Southern District of Florida for further proceedings.