Royal Caribbean Chases Off Bad Guacamole Lawsuit

A plaintiff may have overplayed their hand when they brought a lawsuit against a Royal Caribbean subsidiary. The company known as Silverseas fought off allegations that bad guacamole caused the plaintiff’s hearing loss and fertility problems. Silverseas was awarded $5000 in attorneys’ fees as a result of successfully chasing off the lawsuit. Below, we’ll take a look at why the case failed.

Woman Told Cruise Employees of Shellfish Allergy

The woman alleged that she had previously told a waiter of her shellfish allergy and yet they served her guacamole that allegedly contained shellfish. The plaintiff proceeded to have an allergic reaction to the shellfish and upon receiving treatment for the reaction, a door was slammed, causing her permanent hearing loss, headaches, and fertility complications.

The problem with a case like this is that it’s difficult to draw any connection between the slamming door and the various permanent impairments that the plaintiff claimed she experienced. While slamming doors are no doubt loud, they typically don’t rise to the standard of deafening. The plaintiff could produce no expert medical witnesses to corroborate her claim that the door slamming could have resulted in hearing loss and fertility complications.

The court entered a summary judgment to dismiss the lawsuit in Silverseas’ favor and required to pay Silverseas’ legal fees for around $4,700.

What Would The Plaintiff Need to Prove This Case?

The thing that would have helped the most is evidence that the allergic reaction actually caused some of the impairments the plaintiff claimed she had. Having a serious allergic reaction aboard a sea vessel on a cruise is enough to warrant at least a free trip at a later date, but only if she could establish that she told the waiter prior to the ordering of the food that she had a shellfish allergy. The waiter then should have asked the chef if there were any shellfish in the guacamole and the chef should have known that there was indeed shellfish in the guacamole having ostensibly made it himself. The waiter goes back to the woman and informs her that the guacamole has shellfish and the woman orders something else.

What complicated the case considerably was the fact that the allergic reaction led to a trip to the infirmary during which a slamming door appears to have caused the bulk of the plaintiff’s problems. An expert witness could have testified on how loud a sound would have had to have been to cause hearing loss and a doctor could have testified to the fact that the woman did, in fact, sustain some damage to her hearing. Since neither of those was present, the judge dismissed the case and the woman was forced to pay the legal fees of the defendant.

Talk to a Miami Personal Injury Attorney Today

If you’ve suffered because a restaurant served you a food that you were allergic to, you are entitled to recover damages. Talk to a Miami personal injury attorney at the office of Alan Goldfarb, P.A. today for a free consultation.

Resources:

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