March 24 roundup

  • “Woman suing Carnival: Ship sailed too fast, made me sick” [Gene Sloan, USA Today “Cruise Log”]
  • U.S. Department of Justice sues Illinois school district for denying Muslim teacher’s request for three-week Mecca-trip leave [WaPo]
  • “California Assembly Says Complying with Government Standards Not Enough to Avoid Punitive Damages” [Cal Civil Justice]
  • “Four Loko Suit Is an Example of Bogus Economic Loss Classes” [Russell Jackson]
  • New Benjamin Barton book on lawyer-judge bias reviewed by Larry Ribstein [TotM, earlier]
  • “Prolific Colorado Consumer Attorney Filed 2/3rds of State’s FDCPA Cases Since 2007” [ABA Journal]
  • Different kind of false marking case? Judge says company knowingly claimed inapplicable patent [WSJ Law Blog]
  • “Extra-special education at public expense” [five years ago on Overlawyered]

4 Comments

  • Cruise ship too fast? Maybe the woman in unfamiliar the formula Distance/Time=Rate? Ships go as fast as they need to go to cover the distance required in the time frame on the schedule.

    The amount of power it takes to go as fast as they do is staggering. I am kind of experienced on this topic. I was the Engine Room Superviser, qualified MMOW, and EOOW (Machinist Mate of the Watch, Engineering Officer of the Watch, when I was in the US Navy. My last ship was a 650 ft, 20,000 ton ship that was built like a small cruise ship. Our engine had 25,000 shaft horsepower. Our maximum speed was 22 knots. We would have had to double the size of our engines to go 25 knots.

    The ship went exactly as fast as it was designed to. The speed was picked by the designer to meet the scheduling needs of Carnival Cruise Line.

    Seasickness is a pain, but it is no grounds for a lawsuit. The Courts are not doing anyone any favor by letting this go forward, even at the small claims level.

  • Regarding the FDCPA article.

    Of course there are ridiculous law suits. And damages should be paid only if damages are incurred.

    But how do we stop the abusive debt collectors, other than to penalize them?

  • I think it was all that water that made her sick. Surely someone should have mentioned it in advance!

    Bob

  • Bob,

    I think you are right. They should limit cruises to central Kansas to minimize the rocking…