By Jonathan Stempel
(Reuters) – A federal appeals court on Tuesday revived a lawsuit against Royal Caribbean Cruises brought by the parents of an 18-month-old girl who died after she slipped into her grandfather’s hands and fell out of a window open from a cruise ship.
The 11th United States Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has reinstated two negligence claims relating to the July 2019 death of Chloe Wiegand, who was in a children’s play area aboard the ship Freedom of the Seas, which was docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Her grandfather Salvatore Anello testified that he lifted Chloe up and put her feet on the windowsill, not realizing the window was open. Chloe escaped his grasp and fell approximately 150 feet to her death on the pier below.
Chloe’s parents, Alan Wiegand and Kimberly Schultz-Wiegand, both of Indiana, sued Royal Caribbean, claiming it violated industry standards by not installing safety devices to prevent falls. Windows.
In a 21-page ruling, the three-judge appeals court said jurors could find Royal Caribbean knew of the risk of children falling through open windows, noting its use of protective railings and warning passengers not to cross them.
He also said jurors should decide whether Royal Caribbean could have foreseen an adult like Anello holding Chloe by the window, which may not excuse her alleged negligence.
The court remanded the case to U.S. District Judge Donald Graham in Miami. He had dismissed it in July 2021, saying Anello’s conduct was the unforeseeable and immediate cause of Chloe’s death and that the open window was a clear danger.
Royal Caribbean and its attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Jacqueline Garcell, the parents’ lawyer, criticized Royal Caribbean for refusing to install devices that many large hotel chains also use to prevent falls.
“We look forward to continuing our fight for justice for Chloe Wiegand and making cruise ships safer,” she said.
Anello, of Valparaiso, Indiana, was sentenced in February 2021 to three years of probation after pleading guilty to negligent homicide in Chloe’s death, according to the Puerto Rico Department of Justice.
The case is Wiegand et al v Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 21-12596.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis)