British couple awarded over $35,000 for “loss of enjoyment” on cruise

by Katie Hammel on

When Terence and Cynthia Milner booked a 15-week, $100,000 round-the-world cruise on Cunard’s Queen Victoria, they were expecting the trip of a lifetime. Instead, they claim the experience was so horrible that they had to get off the ship early in Hawaii, at which point they were “in a terrible state.”

The problem: apparently the first night they heard unbearable noise in their cabin. They were moved, and moved again and again but continued to find each successive cabin equally unsatisfactory until they could take it no more. Cunard refunded the couple nearly $80,000 for the portion of the cruise they missed, but the Milners wanted more. The took Cunard to court, and were awarded an additional 22,000 pounds (about $36,600) with the majority of the money awarded for “distress and disappointment.” Another portion of the settlement was awarded to cover the £4,300 worth of formal dresses Mrs. Milner bought, which she is now unable to wear because they are an “unwelcome reminder of the cruise.”

According to the BBC, the Milners claim they were first moved to a cabin fitted for the disabled, which was located near the engine and was very noisy. They were then moved to another cabin, but were concerned that they wouldn’t have it the whole time because it was booked by another couple joining the cruise later. By this time, Milners were terribly afflicted with mouth ulcers and breathing difficulties, so they jumped ship in Hawaii, where they vacationed for six weeks, all the while “exhausted and inconsolable.”

Exhausted and inconsolable in Hawaii? I suppose that could be true….if they Milners couldn’t find contentment on a $100,000 round-the-world luxury cruise, I doubt they could find it anywhere.

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Woman sues Hyatt after dancing wedding guest breaks her arm

by Katie Hammel on

Weddings are a time of celebration. People like to have a few drinks, maybe hit the dance floor. But there always seems to be one guest who takes things too far – who drinks a little too much and gets a little too wild. At a wedding at a New Jersey Hyatt in 2008, that guest not only got a bit too drunk, he allegedly got so forceful on the dance floor that he broke another guest’s arm. And now Hyatt could be held responsible.

According to the New York Post, Christine Mancision was getting her groove on when James Graeber grabbed her, and flung her so violently across the dance floor that she fell down and hurt her arm. She went to the hospital, where she found out her wrist was broken and she needed surgery. She’s now suing the Hyatt for over-serving Graeber, who she claims was visibly intoxicated.

The suit is for $1 million and claims Hyatt violated New Jersey’s “dram shop” laws by serving someone who was obviously drunk. Mancision’s lawyer said the Hyatt “owes an obligation to its guests . . to not fuel the fire of intoxication by pouring alcohol down the throat of an intoxicated person.” Really, a Hyatt staff member poured alcohol down the throat of Graeber?

Getting manhandled by some drunk buffoon at a wedding is not fun (though probably not all that uncommon). But how can the court say that wouldn’t have happened had the Hyatt not given the guy another drink? And how can they prove he was “visibly intoxicated”? Everyone does the chicken dance at weddings. That proves nothings. Will the wedding video be called in as evidence?

If it’s true, what happened to Mancision was unfortunate. But it seems like her “assailant” should be the one who pays for her hospital bills, not the hotel.

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[via Vagabondish]

Heterosexual couple booked on a gay cruise sues cruise line

by Annie Scott on

So, you saved all your money
For a cruise with your honey,
And when you get there,
You notice something funny.
“It’s not that there’s anything wrong”
So they say,
But everyone else on your cruise ship is gay.

Yes, this happened. According to The Daily Mail, a heterosexual couple accidentally ended up on Italy’s first gay cruise, and they are suing the cruise line for not informing them. “The middle-aged husband and wife, who have not been named, said they were embarrassed after spotting people they knew, but had not realised were gay, on the cruise,” reports Nick Pisa.

Awkward!

Even if they hadn’t spotted anyone they’d known, you would think Grimaldi Lines, the cruise line in question, would have been a little more careful — especially with their first ever foray into this touchy niche.

The couple reportedly booked the cruise with loyalty points from their grocery store. I guess they didn’t know it was that kind of grocery store. They’re suing for £2,800.

Some are saying the couple is making a big deal out of nothing or calling them homophobic, but I think I’d sue, too. Anytime you are being put on a boat with a target audience, you should be informed. I would also sue if I unexpectedly ended up with my boyfriend on Italy’s First Singles Cruise, Italy’s First All-Nine-Inch-Nails-All-Day Cruise, or Italy’s First Cruise for Twilight Fans (no offense to any aforementioned parties).

Basically, it’s great to have cruises for niche markets, but in my opinion, you’ve got to be pretty aggressively upfront about it. People get sued for serving hot coffee, after all.

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[via USAToday]

Man sues Chicago Hilton for $50,000 after tripping over luggage

by Katie Hammel on

It seems there’s no end to the ridiculous things people will sue over these days. There was the alcoholic who drunkenly fell down the stairs and then sued the hotel for over-serving him, the guy who got electrocuted while trying to sneak onto an Amtrak train and then sued the company for parking the trains where it did, and many, many more.

Now a man is suing Chicago’s Palmer House Hilton for $50,000 after he tripped over some unattended luggage in the hotel lobby. The complaint, posted on a Chicago legal website, alleges that “on or about October 7, 2007” the plaintiff, Richard J. Wood, “tripped, stumbled, and/or fell” over the luggage. (Well…which was it? Did he merely stumble, or was it a fall? And how does he not know which day it happened?)

The suit, in its convoluted legalese, alleges that the Hilton staff were careless and negligent in leaving the suitcase out where Wood could trip on it. Apparently, Wood bears no responsibility for not looking where he was going. There’s no word on how the man was physically injured, but the suit claims he suffered “great pain, anguish and suffering, loss of a normal life”. Was it $50,000 worth of anguish? Unless Hilton settles, it’ll be up to the court to decide.

Doctor turned over to FBI for trying to use front toilet in aircraft

by Abha Malpani on

A 65-year old Indian urologist was turned over to the FBI after he tried to visit the toilet in the front of the airline.

The first time the doctor tried to use the toilet on the Southwest flight, it was occupied by the captain, so he went back to his seat. When he saw the captain come out, he got up to go again when he was pushed back into his seat by airline staff. Apparently this was because it looked like he was trying to get near the cockpit, which is against the law if the cockpit is not secure.

This was explained to the doctor, however, when the plane landed there were police waiting there for him. He was handcuffed and taken to a detention center where they took his mugshots and fingerprints. Post a night in the detention center alongside 43 other accused people, the doctor was taken to court and asked to plead guilty to misdemeanor assault and pay a fine of $2,500.

Not knowing what to do and to avoid costly court proceedings, the doctor decided to plead guilty.

How crazy and paranoiac is this whole situation!? To me it looks like an old man on his way to a medical conference in Las Vegas attempts to use the bathroom on a flight and the next thing you know he’s been marked a criminal and is in court pleading guilty to an assault accusation.

Why couldn’t the airline staff just request him to use another bathroom on the plane? Why all this drama? Even if it was a case of racial discrimination post 9/11, it went far beyond reason. The poor guy must be traumatized and I don’t blame him.

Southwest Airlines defends how it handled the situation; they saw the old man as a potential threat because he wanted to get close to the cockpit. Excuse me, but that’s where the toilet was! The airline customer service sent him a compensatory letter with a $100 voucher for the next flight he takes on Southwest.

He is suing the airline for humiliation and arrest.

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