Having spanned three jurisdictions, two states and approximately six months, a lawsuit seeking lost wages, among other damages, from a well-known cruise line for a young girl’s finger injury was recently disposed.
Miami federal court records show that plaintiffs Kirk and Esther Smith settled the case with Carnival Corp. on Sept. 23, 2015.
The Southeast Texas Record on Mar. 5, 2015, reported that the Smiths sued Carnival Corp. after their then-six-year-old Karina’s finger was slammed in a door on July 11, 2014.
According to the Smiths’ legal complaint, the Carnival Magic bore responsibility for the child’s injury.
The suit, filed Mar. 3, 2015, in the Galveston County Court at Law No. 3, did not specify what the girl or her parents were doing at the time, only that she was aboard and under the care of Carnival.
In response, the defendant requested and was granted a transfer of the litigation to the Southern District of Texas, Galveston Division more than a month later.
Carnival then submitted a formal rebuttal to the complainants’ allegations.
The Southern District of Florida, Miami Division ultimately assumed jurisdiction of the suit on Aug. 18, 2015, and it was closed shortly afterwards when the parties reached a settlement.
Attorney Darrell Apffel of the law firm Bettison Doyle Apffel & Guarino in League City represented the Smiths while Carnival was represented by James T. Brown and Jeanie Tate Goodwin of the law firm Legge, Farrow, Kimmitt, McGrath & Brown in Houston and Suzanne Brown Vazquez of its in-house legal team.
Galveston County Court at Law No. 3 Case No. CV-0073772
Galveston Division of the Southern District of Texas Case No. 3:15-CV-00089
Miami Division of the Southern District of Florida Case No. 1:15-CV-23077-JAL