MIAMI – The death of Samantha Broberg, a 33-year-old mother of four from Arlington, made headlines two years ago when she fell overboard during a cruise from Galveston to Mexico.
On Jan. 4, a federal judge found Carnival Cruise Line is not responsible for her death, according to the Miami Herald.
Last year, Samantha Broberg's widower, Karl, sued Carnival in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Miami, alleging Carnival knowingly over-served his wife alcohol.
Hickey
The federal court found Carnival had no knowledge that Broberg was intoxicated.
Miami attorney Jack Hickey, an expert on maritime law, believes cruise lines need to take more responsibility when it comes to serving alcohol on ships.
"Maritime law provides that the cruise lines have a duty to sell alcohol responsibly and not to serve someone who appears to be impaired or whom the cruise line should know is impaired,” Hickey said. “The fact is that the cruise lines encourage drinking by passengers onboard. And the cruise lines should know that passengers might abuse alcohol because they are on vacation and the passengers do not have to drive anywhere.
"Here the Court did not feel that the cruise line should have known that this passenger was impaired.
Hickey says the result is fact specific and limited to the Broberg case.