A US judge has thrown out claims against a security firm in a lawsuit filed by a woman who claimed she was sexually assaulted by a guard on a rap music festival on a Norwegian Cruise Line vessel.
The decision by US district judge Beth Bloom, of the US federal court in Miami, leaves the cruise line and the alleged but unidentified perpetrator of the assault as the remaining defendants, after a previous dismissal cleared festival host and rap star DJ Khaled of claims against him in the case.
The lawsuit by a woman identified only as Jane Doe sought claims of negligence and negligent hiring against Almighty Protection Services, which was providing security on the cruise.
Her alleged perpetrator is identified only as John Roe, the male equivalent of Jane Doe.
But Bloom concluded that it was a “shotgun pleading” by comingling the claims against the security firm with those against the cruise line, even though the Norwegian faces different claims.
“This is problematic, since Doe’s claim that Norwegian … are strictly liable for Roe’s conduct is now commingled into Count 3 [for negligence], along with the various other causes of action Doe has alleged,” Bloom wrote.
She came to a similar conclusion for Count 4’s claim of negligent hiring, since that portion of the woman’s complaint contains language incorporating all the previous paragraphs.
“It ‘commits the sin of not separating into a different count each cause of action or claim for relief,’” the judge wrote.
Bloom dismissed the claims against Almighty “with prejudice” — which means Doe will not be able to refile the lawsuit against the company.
November lawsuit
Bloom’s order comes after Doe launched the case in November, alleging she was sexually assaulted during the Days of Summer Hip Hop Cruise.
DJ Khaled, the Miami rapper known for such songs as “We the best” and “Wild thoughts”, was the host of the July cruise on the 2002-berth Norwegian Sky (built 1999).
Doe’s lawyers said in court papers that, after drinking all day, the woman was intoxicated when she left a hip-hop comedy show and became lost.
A security guard approached her and offered to help her to her cabin, according to the lawsuit filed by lawyers Reginald Hicks, Alex Park and Carlyle Varlack.
She ended up in an unfamiliar cabin, where she alleged that the security guard, identified only by the placeholder moniker John Roe, allegedly forced his penis into her mouth.
Bloom’s dismissal order was not the first setback in the case.
Doe initially sued Norwegian, Khaled, Almighty Protection and Roe, but the defendants complained that it was a “shotgun pleading”.
Bloom threw out the lawsuit in March. But only the claims against rapper — whose legal name is Khaled Mohammed Khaled and who famously declared, “All I do is win, win, win no matter what,” in one of his most popular songs — were thrown out with prejudice.
Doe filed an amended complaint against the remaining defendants
Norwegian Cruise Line is continuing to pursue dismissal of the negligence claims against it in the case, on the grounds that Doe is also pursuing a strict liability claim against the company, asserting that the operator has an absolute duty to ensure a safe passage for its passengers.
“Negligence claims cannot be raised in conjunction with strict liability claims when the negligence claims are premised on a failure to prevent the tort that gives rise to strict liability,” wrote the company’s lawyer, Jeffrey Caisse of Mase Seitz Briggs.
Doe’s lawyers reject that contention, arguing that a plaintiff can pursue alternative claims.
The cruise operator, the flagship brand of New York-listed Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, is also challenging Doe’s request for punitive damages, since there are no allegations that it acted intentionally.
Almighty Protection is represented by lawyers Chester McLeod and Roderick Vereen, while Khaled was represented in the case by Fort Lauderdale attorney Bradford Cohen,
A jury trial is scheduled for January.
