April 8, 2020

We’re starting to see more lawsuits brought by people who say that businesses failed to protect them from the coronavirus.  Just yesterday, a class action was filed in Florida by cruise ship passengers against Costa Cruises (a subsidiary of Carnival), alleging that Costa was negligent in failing to warn passengers that a passenger on a prior voyage was disembarked due to symptoms of the coronavirus.  The complaint alleges that passengers were injured as a result and that Costa is liable for negligence, negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress, false advertising, and negligent misrepresentation.  Plaintiffs seek damages in an unspecified amount.  (For a copy of the complaint, see https://www.lipcon.com/work-in-progress/complaint-costa-luminosa-coronavirus/.)  We can be sure that, as the crisis continues, we’ll see more lawsuits of this sort against a variety of businesses.  Companies should have an attorney check their general liability insurance policies, which generally cover claims for personal injury caused by an accident or exposure to injury-producing conditions, for potential coverage.