Trial Magazine

Maria Ana Reis Martins, 35, worked as a dining room server aboard the Disney Dream. While in port, she was hit by an SUV as she crossed a street. She consulted the ship’s doctor, who ordered an X-ray, diagnosed soft-tissue back injuries, and sent her back to work.

After eight days of lifting heavy food trays, she returned to the ship’s doctor and asked to go to a land-based hospital. She subsequently went to a hospital emergency room and was diagnosed as having fractured ribs. As a result, Reis Martins was sent home for five months.

When Reis Martins returned to work, her pain resumed when she began lifting food trays. The ship’s doctor diagnosed intercostal neuralgia. Reis Martins returned home again and sought treatment from a neurosurgeon, who told her to take medication and later found that she had reached maximum medical improvement.

Disney then terminated Reis Martins’s maintenance and cure benefits. She had been earning $1,500 per week but has been declared 63% disabled, preventing her from returning to work.

Reis Martins sued Disney’s cruise line, Magical Cruise Co. Ltd., alleging it failed to provide her the entire amount of the maintenance and cure to which she was entitled under general maritime law and failed to provide adequate medical care.

The defense argued that the plaintiff failed to mitigate her damages and seek prompt medical treatment at home.

The jury awarded $4 million, including $1 million in punitive damages. The jury apportioned liability at 70%  to Disney and 30% to the plaintiff.

Citation: Martins v. Magical Cruise Co. Ltd., No. 05-2015-CA-051858 (Fla. Cir. Ct. Brevard Cty. Dec. 19, 2019).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ member Julio J. Ayala, Coral Gables, Fla.; and Ralph Anderson, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.