A Crowley widow filed a lawsuit against Princess Cruise Lines Tuesday claiming they knowingly exposed her and her husband to the coronavirus.
Susan and Michael Dorety boarded the Grand Princess in San Francisco on February 21 to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.
The lawsuit claims that
earlier that day, at least two passengers infected with COVID-19 disembarked
while more than 60 they exposed remained on the ship.
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“They should’ve never let them on the ship. They should’ve warned them of the dangers. They should’ve tested them. And they shouldn’t have really taken that ship back out again,” said Dorety’s attorney Rusty Hardin.
The lawsuit goes on to say
that four days later, Princess Cruises emailed passengers no longer on the ship
to tell them they’d been exposed. They did not, however, warn new passengers including
the Doretys.
Susan Dorety
In the lawsuit, a timeline
shows the cruise ship didn’t quarantine passengers to their rooms for about two
weeks.
Once there, Michael began
showing symptoms. Susan called an emergency line multiple times, but they received
no medical attention.
It took three days to get
him off the ship where he was evaluated by the C.D.C. and taken to a California
hospital.
He died there alone as his
wife and children listened over the phone.
Though Princess Cruises
doesn’t comment on pending litigation, it issued a statement:
“Princess Cruises has been sensitive to the
difficulties the COVID-19 outbreak has caused to our guests and crew. Our
response throughout this process has focused on the well-being of our guests
and crew within the parameters dictated to us by the government agencies
involved and the evolving medical understanding of this new illness.”
Susan Dorety
Hardin said Dorety’s
biggest concern now is keeping this from happening to anyone else.
“Obviously, a lot of things happen with the virus that no
one is to blame for. This is a very different circumstance. This is people
responsible for caring for others who knew of the risk, did not warn people of
the risk, took their money for a cruise knowing as they did so that these
people might very well be exposed to a lethal virus. They did it anyway. That’s
what she wants to make sure doesn’t happen again,” said Hardin
According to the CDC, the Grand Princess and the cruise line’s Diamond Princess had more than 800 total COVID-19 cases since the outbreak began including 10 deaths.
Crowley Woman Sues Princess Cruises After Husband Dies from Coronavirus -Fort Worth
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