A woman sues Royal Caribbean over her fiance's death on a cruise ship

[ad_1] The fiancee of a person who died on a cruise ship has filed a wrongful dying lawsuit towards Royal Caribbean, alleging it negligently served him at the least 33 alcoholic drinks and was answerable for his dying after crew members tackled him to the bottom and stood on him with their full physique weight.

Connie Aguilar's lawsuit for the dying of 35-year-old Michael Virgil seeks unspecified damages and a jury trial. Royal Caribbean didn't instantly reply to an e-mail requesting touch upon Tuesday.

Aguilar and Virgil had been on a roundtrip voyage from Los Angeles to Ensenada, Mexico, with different members of their household, together with their son, on the time of Virgil's dying in December 2024, the lawsuit stated.

Crew members on board Navigator of the Seas served Virgil greater than two dozen drinks, after which he received misplaced and have become agitated looking for his room, it stated. That is when crew members tackled him and stood on him with their full weight, the lawsuit costs. They subjected him to extended susceptible restraint, compressed his again and torso, and impaired his respiratory, the lawsuit stated.

On the captain's request, crew members administered a sedative and sprayed him with pepper spray, the lawsuit stated.

This remedy led to respiratory failure, cardiac arrest and Virgil's dying, it continued.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner dominated the dying a murder. It stated Virgil died from the mixed results of mechanical asphyxia, which is when drive or an object blocks respiratory; weight problems; an enlarged coronary heart and alcohol intoxication.

Video shot by passenger Christopher McHale and obtained by KTTV of Los Angeles reveals Virgil in a slim hallway kicking a door.

A KTTV report stated Virgil screamed profanities, threatened to kill McHale and a crew member and chased them down a hallway. McHale stated the crew member locked himself in a towel room, which Virgil then tried to kick down.

The video captures safety guards and others finally holding Virgil down on the ground.

McHale stated no one deserved to die the way in which Virgil did.

“He simply wanted some assist,” McHale stated.

The lawsuit stated crew members mustn't have served Virgil alcohol as a result of he “exhibited apparent visible indicators of intoxication” and had been negligent for doing so, the lawsuit stated.

Maritime frequent legislation requires carriers like Royal Caribbean to “supervise and help passengers more likely to interact in habits harmful to themselves or others,” the lawsuit stated.

Royal Caribbean additionally did not train its proper to cease serving alcohol to Virgil to guard his life, the lawsuit stated.

The corporate's ships, it added, are intentionally designed to make sure there are alcohol-serving stations “in each nook and cranny” and the corporate “does as a lot as doable to encourage and facilitate alcohol consumption” on board.

The lawsuit stated medical personnel on board lacked correct schooling, licenses, expertise and abilities and it did not correctly practice crew members to evaluate when to cease serving a passenger.

The lawsuit was filed Friday in federal court docket in Miami, the place Royal Caribbean, the world’s second largest cruise firm, has its headquarters.