Fort Worth-area man died after cruise, didn’t know coronavirus was on board, suit says
A Crowley woman sued Princess Cruise Lines this week, alleging the company knowingly exposed her and her husband to the novel coronavirus in February, which resulted in his death.
At least seven people who have sailed on a Princess Cruise Lines ship have died of COVID-19, according to the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
In a statement emailed to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the cruise line said: “Princess Cruises has been sensitive to the difficulties the COVID-19 outbreak has caused to our guests and crew. 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. We do not comment on any pending litigation.”
Susan Dorety and her husband Michael, a retired firefighter, boarded the Grand Princess cruise ship on Feb. 21 in San Francisco to celebrate their 40th anniversary.
Three days earlier, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a statement that said the rate of positive cases on board the Diamond Princess highlighted the ongoing risk of infection on the ship.
Despite the CDC warning, the cruise line still allowed passengers to board the Grand Princess, according to the lawsuit. At least two passengers who had COVID-19 symptoms just disembarked the ship while more than 60 others were allowed to remain on board after they had been exposed to the virus, the suit says. The ship’s crew knew passengers had become ill before the couple boarded, according to the lawsuit.
The Grand Princess was carrying 2,421 passengers and 1,113 crew members when it set sail.
Four days after the Doretys boarded, Princess Cruise Lines emailed the previous passengers who were no longer on the ship and told them they had been exposed to the virus. But there was no warning to the new passengers, according to the lawsuit.
In addition, when a crew member with COVID-19 symptoms left the Grand Princess in Hawaii, there still was no alert to passengers. Dorety said she and her husband would have disembarked in Hawaii had they known about the risks and would have never boarded in the first place had they known there was a potential outbreak onboard.
Attorney Rusty Hardin said in the lawsuit that Princess Cruise Lines should have learned to take precautions to keep its passengers and crew safe after experiencing an outbreak on one of its other vessels.
“Unfortunately, Princess did no such thing,” Hardin wrote.
After two weeks on the ship, passengers were told to quarantine. Michael Dorety then fell ill. He felt weak and was shivering and feverish. A ship’s doctor gave him Tylenol and Tamiflu, but the couple was not advised until later that they could have left the ship for medical treatment.
Michael Dorety died in an Oakland hospital days later with no family by his side. Dorety, meanwhile, also contracted the virus. She has returned to Texas.
Michael Dorety was a member of the U.S. Marines Corps for six years and then for 39 year he was a firefighter with the Dallas Fire and Rescue He retired in 2010.
The lawsuit seeks damages for negligence, gross negligence and for other unlawful acts.
This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 2:03 PM.
