Class action against Ruby Princess operators Carnival begins in Sydney
Ruby Princess operators have told a court the world was a different place when the cruise ship set sail, and used the Prime Minister’s encouragement to attend the MCG and watch his “beloved Sharks” as proof.
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A class action lawsuit against the operators of the Ruby Princess alleges a retired policeman, trembling and staggering from coronavirus symptoms, was mustered into a cruise ship bar with hundreds of others before he was allowed to disembark - he nearly died in hospital.
But the operators say they weren’t negligent because the world was a different place at the time holidaymakers congregated aboard the viral ship - and have pointed the finger at the Prime Minister’s desire to see his “beloved Sharks” as proof.
The first hearing of a class action lawsuit against the Ruby’s operators, Princess Cruise Lines and parent company Carnival, was held in the Federal Court on Wednesday morning.
Nurse Susan Karpik and her husband, retired detective Henry Karpik, allege they were healthy when they boarded the Ruby Princess in Sydney on March 8 and were shown to their room, Federal Court documents state.
The documents allege that, despite the ship supposedly being at the highest level of sanitation, their room didn’t appear clean and had half empty food packets and boxes of bottles when they arrived.
The Karpiks were then allegedly told to “muster” in the Wheelhouse Bar where they stood “shoulder to shoulder” with 100 other people for a safety briefing that did not mention coronavirus.
The couple visited bars, cafes, lounge areas, trivia events, dining areas, theatres, clothing stores and other activities over the following days.
By then there were suspected cases on board, the documents allege, and then the World Health Organisation officially declared a pandemic.
Mr Karpik felt unwell by the fifth day and deteriorated by the ninth day of the cruise.
Initially, it is alleged, he was tended to in the medical clinic by a staff member who didn’t have a mask, and did not tell him to self isolate.
Later that day, at a second visit, it’s alleged another unmasked staff member said he had the flu and should isolate but should also walk through the ship to visit the clinic twice a day.
On the final day the couple were again “mustered” in a lounge area alongside 200 other holidaymakers even as Mr Karpik coughed, had a fever, struggled to walk and was trembling among other symptoms, it’s alleged.
“After the cruise Mr Karpik was taken to hospital by ambulance, placed in a medically induced coma, intubated and ventilated,” the documents allege.
At one point in his four weeks of unconsciousness doctors allegedly told Mrs Karpik her husband had just days to live.
“He almost died. He continues to suffer ongoing medical complications as a result. This has been, at the risk of understatement, extremely distressing for Mrs Karpik.”
The class action alleges Carnival breached consumer laws, were negligent and misleading or deceptive in their conduct with the Ruby Princess cruise.
The class action alleged that, by the time the cruise left Sydney heads, the operators knew more than 700 people had caught the virus from one of their other cruises - the Diamond Princess - and at least seven had died.
They also knew, it’s alleged, the operators were responding to a second outbreak on a third ship - the Grand Princess - off the coast of the United States.
But Carnival’s legal team said the world had been a different place when the Ruby Princess sailed out of Sydney Harbour on March 8.
“At that point in time, leaving aside the retrospective scope, we were prepared to engage in activity which involved congregating in groups of the size that were involved in the Ruby Princess,” Carnival barrister David McLure SC said.
“As at 8 March 2020, the Prime Minister was talking about going along to see his beloved (Cronulla) Sharks play a match at a busy football stadium… that will be the thrust of the issue.”
That was the day the Ruby Princess left Sydney with the Karpiks on board.
Mr McLure said the women’s T20 cricket world cup final was also being held at the MCG at about this time and Prime Minister Scott Morrison was again encouraging people to attend.
“The Prime Minister was urging Australians to strain to break the world record for the number of people to attend a sporting event,” Mr McLure said.
Two days before the Ruby Princess sailed out of Sydney the Prime Minister was quoted in The Australian saying “unless you’ve got symptoms there’s no reason not to get out and get behind Australia” at the MCG.
The ship would return on March 19 carrying ailing passengers in what would become Australia’s biggest and most deadly outbreak of COVID-19.
The court, on Wednesday, heard the lawsuit was brought on behalf of all surviving passengers or the executors of the estates of passengers who died because of the outbreak or loved ones who suffered mental harm because they knew an afflicted passenger.
The court also heard eight lawsuits had been launched against Carnival in the United States on behalf of the 700-plus passengers who purchased tickets in that country.
Seven of those lawsuits remain active, Mr McLure said, none have been granted class action status because their tickets included a “class action waiver” upon purchase.