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Law360 (May 8, 2020, 7:35 PM EDT) -- Princess Cruise Lines Ltd. has been hit with another suit alleging that the company's negligence caused a passenger to contract COVID-19 and die, the latest in a string of lawsuits against the cruise company alleging that it knowingly exposed passengers to the coronavirus.
Pamela Wortman, who is expected to represent the estate of Edward Mireles, said in her complaint Thursday that Princess recklessly decided to board 3,000 passengers on a March 8 voyage out of Sydney, Australia, despite experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak on the same ship during its immediately preceding voyage and despite outbreaks on other Princess vessels.
"To add insult to injury, the defendant, Princess' corporate office was aware of an outbreak of COVID-19 on the March 8, 2020, sailing, and failed to even attempt to quarantine any of the passengers on board," Wortman said. "They didn't even bother to notify the passengers that there was an actual outbreak, allowing the sailing to continue as if it were a normal cruise, up until the time it returned to Australia three days early."
Princess' negligence led to Mireles' death on April 7 in Placer County, California, according to the complaint. Wortman said she has also tested positive for the coronavirus.
Wortman said Princess' corporate office instructed employees of the ship, known as the Ruby Princess, to provide vouchers to the passengers to buy lunch while they delayed the sailing for six hours to further disinfect the ship.
Wortman's complaint includes a count of negligence and a count of gross negligence, and she is seeking at least $1 million in damages.
Counsel for Wortman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. Princess said in a statement that it does not comment on pending litigation.
"Our response throughout this process has focused on the well-being of our guests and crew within the parameters dictated to us by the government agencies involved and the evolving medical understanding of this new illness," the company said.
Princess has been hit with a wave of suits claiming the company knowingly let its Grand Princess vessel set sail on a voyage the same day passengers who had COVID-19 symptoms disembarked from the ship's previous voyage. One suit was filed earlier this week by the family of a 74-year-old man who died and another was filed last month by a woman who said the company's "lackadaisical approach" to passenger safety caused her husband's death.
Wortman is represented by Michael A. Simmrin of Simmrin Law Group and Debi F. Chalik of Chalik & Chalik PA.
Counsel information for Princess was not immediately available Friday.
The case is Pamela Wortman et al. v. Princess Cruise Lines Ltd., case number 2:20-cv-04169, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
--Additional reporting by Lauren Berg and Dave Simpson.
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