Houston Cruise Ship Accident Lawyers
Helping Victims of Negligence & Assault Get Closure Nationwide
Cruise ships are floating cities, housing hundreds of passengers and staff in a multi-floor complex that includes numerous restaurants, clubs, and leisure centers. However, like a floating city, cruise ships are prone to the same kind of risks that cities have: sexual assault or harassment, slip-and-fall accidents, toxic exposure, and general negligence leading to catastrophic injuries. Cruise lines know that they have a problem.
Over a 3-year period, there were roughly 200 injuries that took place aboard or during a cruise, with around 25 classified as serious. However, the real threat to passengers was the high rate of sexual assault. Of all the crimes committed aboard cruise ships in 2016, 70 percent were sex crimes—most of them committed against minors.
Cruise ships are required to report crimes committed on the vessel, but the public has only had access to this information in recent years. Our Texas cruise ship injury attorneys believe cruise line companies must do better. If you or a loved one was harmed while on a cruise ship, holding the company accountable could provide a way to pay for your physical and mental recovery—while preventing what happened to you from happening again.
Call (888) 493-1629 or contact us online to review your options with a top-rated attorney for free.
Texas Cruise Ship Injury Lawyers Fight for Vessel Employees
Cruise ship employees have the same rights as passengers. Employees have the same right to a safe environment, to medical care when needed, and to hold responsible parties accountable when they're injured by negligence. Our Houston cruise ship injury attorneys have represented numerous workers who were injured by the willful and heinous negligence of their employers. Many of our clients felt like there was nothing they could do—their employer was too big, too well-equipped to fight.
Our firm makes it our mission to level the playing field between injured individuals and large corporations who put profits over all else. We help cruise ship workers bring their employers to court, where their power is equal under the law.
Our Texas cruise ship attorneys have helped our clients obtain billions to get treatment, afford therapy, and get their lives back to normal. We've handled hundreds of premises liability and offshore injury cases before, making us uniquely equipped to handle cruise ship accident cases.
Cruise Ship Sexual Assault Is On the Rise
Cruise liners have a sexual harassment problem. Because the perceived safety of a cruise ship affects ticket sales, perpetrators of sexual assault act with more impunity than they do onshore. They know that it's in the cruise line's best interest to not prosecute sexual assault cases—leaving hundreds of young men and women without a voice and without justice. The system is broken because the "investigators" for crimes committed aboard cruise liners are hired by the cruise—which means they are automatically in an adversarial relationship with the victims. Wanting to avoid a lawsuit, cruise ships will do more to "cover up" a crime than actually get justice for it.
As a result, reported numbers and actual numbers differ by a wide margin. For example, in 2017 Carnival Cruises reported that their crew was accused of 62 accounts of sexual misconduct (not including crimes committed by passengers). Two weeks after reporting that number, Carnival came clean—their initial report was 70 percent too low. The actual number of sexual misconduct accusations was 108.
Of those 108 cases, 16 were accusations from passengers accusing crew members of rape, and another 6 were crew members accusing fellow workers of rape.
Cruise ship injuries are not necessarily accidents—these crimes deserve to be heard in civil and criminal court, where the perpetrator can face the State's justice while making recompense for the damage they caused.
Passengers & Employees Deserve Safe Surroundings
When someone is injured on private property by unsafe conditions, they have the right to hold the property owner accountable under premises liability law. While our Houston cruise ship injury lawyers often apply the law to accidents (like slipping and falling), "reasonably safe" conditions include ensuring the crew hired to help passengers is trustworthy. When crew members have a history of sexual assault allegations or have a record that should bar them from working near minors, it's the cruise company that needs to be held accountable.
Their poor or unsafe hiring practices make them legally liable for the crimes their employees commit against other workers or against guests. As Texas trial lawyers, one of our greatest privileges is empowering clients to hold their wrongdoers responsible for what they did—for making them face (publically) the harm and pain they willfully caused. On top of that, our cases often force companies to change their policies, making it less likely what happened to our client will happen again.
Houston Gangway Accident Lawyers Helping Clients After Serious Accidents
Passengers and workers face possible dangers on cruise ships the moment they begin to board one. Gangway and boarding accidents are some of the common types of accidents that cause injury. Because of this, cruise operators are especially responsible for making sure they're prevented.
Causes of gangway and boarding accidents include:
- Change in weather or currents
- Failed gangway wire rope
- Improper use of gangway
- Inadequate safety precautions
- Lack of proper maintenance
- Unsecured gangway
Houston Cruise Ship Wrongful Death Attorneys
When negligence is truly heinous, it can cost someone their life—and put their family through a brutal, years-long grieving process. We've found that while these companies frame accidents as "natural events" or inevitable and unfortunate, there's usually a pattern behind every accident. Our job is to find that pattern and put an end to it—to make sure that no one ever has to suffer the same fate as you and your loved one.
Our Houston wrongful death lawyers have investigated vessels from nearly every major cruise company. We often find the same markers for negligence: poor safety protocol; sloppy hiring practices; cost-cutting at the expense of passenger safety; and just plain complacency. When people are killed by another person's carelessness, the voice of the deceased deserves to be heard. The grieving families they leave behind deserve a sense of purpose, of meaning. We provide both by fighting for better policies that prevent the sort of fate your loved one suffered.
Cruise Ship Accident FAQ
Why do cruise ship accidents and assaults happen?
Accidents and assaults on cruise ships happen when individuals and companies fail to take proper measures to ensure the safety of passengers and crew members. Even accidents have specific causes that can be identified and traced back to acts of negligence, overlooked safety measures, or even intentional wrongdoing. Assaults may be intentional, but they too stem from failures to provide adequate security measures, perform background checks, or take appropriate action against reported abusers. Cruise lines should be held accountable for failing to protect their passengers and crew, and our firm is committed to exposing wrongdoing to help victims and prevent others from future harm.
Who’s responsible for cruise ship accidents?
After a serious accident or injury on a cruise ship, the question of liability always arises. Who is legally responsible for paying a victim for his or her injuries? The answer will depend on what caused the accident in the first place and whether the injured person was a passenger or crew member. In some cases, more than one individual or company could be held responsible for a victim’s injuries.
A cruise ship accident case may be filed against a:
- Cruise line
- Fellow passenger
- Onshore excursion company
- Manufacturer of a defective product on a cruise ship
Our cruise injury lawyers at Arnold & Itkin have extensive experience with these cases, and we have access to teams of investigators and expert witnesses who can help us investigate your case and build a strong argument against the responsible party or parties. We’ll take all the necessary steps to set things right.
Where should I file my lawsuit against a cruise line?
If you’re a passenger on a cruise ship, when you buy and sign for your ticket, there will be a clause stating where any personal injury claim would be filed in the event of an injury. This is called the forum selection clause and may vary depending on the cruise line. You may live in one state, depart from the cruise in another state, travel to another country during the cruise, and then file your personal injury lawsuit in yet another state. Your attorney can help you determine in which court your case should be filed.
Call Our Houston Cruise Ship Injury Lawyers at (888) 493-1629
Whatever the nature of your harm, our Houston cruise ship injury law firm is equipped to help you get justice. Our legal team of trial attorneys wants to make sure you and your family have everything you need to move forward in peace, with dignity and grace. Get started with a free consultation. Together, you and one of our Texas attorneys will review your options and determine the best way to help you rebuild. If we can help, then we will front the costs of your case from start to finish. We advance the costs of your case (including our fee) to your result. Our cruise ship injury firm shoulders the risk, so if you don't win, you owe us nothing. We fight for the best future for our clients by securing the best results.
Get started today! It all begins with a simple phone call at (888) 493-1629 or a quick online form.