A cruise ship passenger who fell on a cruise ship has been awarded $300,000 in damages after a drunken fall.
Diana Sanders was sailing as a guest aboard Carnival Radiance when the incident occurred in January 2024.
In a lawsuit filed against Carnival Corporation, the 45-year-old California nurse alleged she was served far more alcohol than was reasonable, claiming she was given 14 shots of tequila and that several of those shots were served within a single hour.
The complaint states that on January 5, 2024, she was served between 2:58pm and 11:37 pm across six venues on the ship: Blue Iquana Tequila, the Serenity Bar, the Red Frog Rum Bar, the Radiance Casino bar, the Winners Luck Bar, and the “Bar @ Sportsquare”.
Sanders further alleged she was ‘visibly intoxicated’ during that roughly eight-and-a-half-hour stretch.
Her attorney, Spencer Aronfeld, argued that staff were ‘negligent’ by continuing to provide alcohol, ‘while she was exhibiting these visible signs of intoxication’.
In the filing, Saunders alleged she was served despite appearing, ‘swaying, stammering, slurring her speech, had alcohol on her breath, and was acting belligerent while she was in plain view of the crew members serving her these alcoholic beverages’.
The lawsuit says Sanders fell sometime between 11:45pm on January 5 and 12:20am on January 6, 2024, after stumbling while attempting to go down a set of stairs.
Aronfeld said she was later discovered unconscious at the bottom of a staircase located in a crew-only section.
The suit lists a range of injuries, including “a concussion, headaches, a possible traumatic brain injury, back injuries, tailbone injuries, bruising, pain, suffering, extreme mental anguish” and other issues.
Sanders asked for a jury trial and sought damages that included court costs, pre- and post-judgment interest, and compensation for past and future expenses.
Carnival contested the claims, arguing that Saunders did not sufficiently point to specific bartenders or exact locations where she was allegedly overserved.
The court documents state: “Therefore, the over-service of alcohol count should be dismissed for failure to sufficiently identify a negligent employee.”
They also add: “There are no allegations regarding Plaintiff stumbling, sleeping at a bar, slurring her words, or exhibiting any other intoxicated-like behaviors.”
The case proceeded to a jury trial beginning April 6, lasting four days.
The jury ultimately assigned 60 percent liability to Carnival and 40 percent negligence to Saunders.
Although she sought $250,000, Saunders was awarded $300,000 for emotional pain, suffering and mental anguish, with 75 percent of that amount attributed to aggravation caused by the incident.
A spokesperson for the cruise line told People it disagrees with the verdict and ‘believes there are grounds for a new trial and appeal, which it will pursue’.