U.S. District Court Jury Finds Cruise Line Not Responsible for Fall

In Groves v. Royal Caribbean Cruise Ltd., Case No. 1:09-cv-20800-EGT, a jury exonerated a cruise line for a passenger's knee injuries from a 2008 slip and fall. Ms. Groves was reportedly backing into a wait station in a dining room on a Royal Caribbean Cruises ship when she slipped and fell. She suffered a torn meniscus and a subchondral trabecular fracture and underwent 2 surgeries. Ms. Groves claimed waiters often spilled water in the area but failed to timely clean it. The defense argued that Ms. Groves could not prove how long the liquid was on the floor or where it came from. The defense also argued that Ms. Groves failed to use due care by walking backwards in high heels after she had consumed a couple of alcoholic beverages. Should you wish more information on this case, please feel free to contact me at

http://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleoterovaldes or miamipandi@comcast.net.

$3 Million Judgment for Slip and Fall Against Carnival

On May 19, 2010, Denise Kaba filed suit against Carnival Corporation, alleging she slipped and fell on a multi-colored pool deck surface on the Carnival Pride cruise ship August 22, 2009. Kaba was on a Caribbean cruise sailing from Baltimore with her husband as a passenger and slipped when she was moving some pool chairs. She suffered a fractured knee and underwent 6 surgeries in 1 1/2 years. The attorneys for Kaba argued the cruise line installed a resin surfaced pool deck that "was hard and slippery as ice." They said Carnival knew about numerous previous accidents on the same surface and on other ships and did nothing to make the surface safe. Carnival conceded liability and setting up a bench trial on damages alone. U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro found damages of just under $3 million: $1.96 million for future non-economic damages; $595,476 for past and future medical expenses; $200,000 for pain and suffering; $170,500 for loss of earnings capacity and $72,198 for prejudgment interest. If you would like to learn more about this decision, you may reach me through my LinkedIn profile at

http://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleoterovaldes or via email at miamipandi@comcast.net

Transportation Credential, a Dangerous & Expensive Security Experiment?

Taken From the Maritime Executive Wednesday, May 11, 2011

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a scathing report today that exposes serious security weaknesses and years-long delays in a program to fully implement a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC).  TWIC is intended to protect the nation’s port and maritime transportation systems. U.S. Rep. John L. Mica (R-FL), the Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, testified at a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing today during which the GAO report was released.  Chairman Mica, one of the requestors of today’s GAO report, said, “TWIC is turning into a dangerous and expensive experiment in security.” The TWIC for maritime industry workers was mandated in the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 (MTSA).  After many delays, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) finally began issuing TWICs in 2007, but the agency still has not approved a technology to read the biometrically enabled credentials.

“Nearly half-a-billion dollars has been spent since TSA was directed to issue biometric security cards to transportation workers,” said Mica, who was chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee in 2001 when the 9/11 terrorists attacks occurred, and is one of the authors of the legislation that created the TSA.  “Yet today, ten years later and with no approved biometric reader, TWICs are at best no more useful than library cards,” Mica said. According to the released report, GAO was able to obtain authentic TWICs using fraudulent identification documentation and gain access to ports using counterfeit TWICs.  GAO also found that, among other things, TSA is unable to confirm that TWIC holders maintain their eligibility throughout the life of their TWIC. Mica continued, “Even more troubling, GAO found that in some cases a TWIC can be fraudulently obtained, becoming a permanent biometric key that unlocks our nation’s ports and facilities for any individual with the intent and desire to do us harm.”

According to TSA, $420 million in funding has been provided for the TWIC Program, 1.86 million people have enrolled, and 1.72 million cards have been activated.  In 2007, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) estimated that the combined cost to the federal government and the private sector may reach $3.2 billion over a ten-year period – not taking into account the full cost of implementing and operating readers.
Despite these significant costs, GAO reports that the TWIC program was poorly tested and evaluated before deployment began.  According to the GAO, “DHS has not assessed the effectiveness of TWIC at enhancing security or reducing risk for MTSA-regulated facilities and vessels.  Further, DHS has not demonstrated that TWIC, as currently implemented and planned with card readers, is more effective than prior approaches used to limit access to ports and facilities, such as using facility-specific identity credentials with business cases.” In fact, the only port that GAO investigators were not able to gain access to using fraudulent means was the port that still required port-specific identification for admittance to secure areas.
“The root of this problem is evidenced in many other TSA programs as well,” Mica said.  “This agency still does not conduct risk assessments and cost-benefit analyses of its security programs.”

Last year, GAO found that TSA’s Screening People by Observation Techniques Program (SPOT) for aviation security will require $1.2 billion over the next five years, but TSA has yet to validate the underlying methodology of the program or to conduct a cost-benefit analysis. GAO also reported in 2010 that TSA has not conducted comprehensive risk assessments across the surface transportation sector.  This lack of analysis results in ill-informed resource allocations and calls into question whether the highest risk targets are being secured. “TSA is not the only agency that has struggled to develop a biometric credential for transportation workers,” Mica said.  “The Federal Aviation Administration has yet to produce a pilot’s license that includes biometric identifiers, or even photos of the pilots holding the licenses.  The only pilots currently pictured on FAA licenses are Wilbur and Orville Wright.” Mica stated that biometric capabilities, properly implemented, are essential for improved transportation security.  However, biometrically enabled credentials will be expensive failures without effective program management.
http://transportation.house.gov/

Remember that Florida is one of the only states where the individual ports still require local background checks. There has been a push to remove these local requirements, which cost businesses in Florida millions. Thus, there is a question behind Rep. Mica's criticism of TWIC. If you want to comment on this, please write me at  http://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleoterovaldes.

Port Legislation Passes in Florida House and Senate

From The Maritime Executive dated May 4, 2011

A bill that would put a stop to requiring port workers, including truck drivers, to have state security clearance finally passed through the Senate on Monday, after its House counterpart already passed that would help ease the flow of Florida transportation. Currently, the legislation waits to be approved by Governor Rick Scott, though it is thought to be signed by Scott without a hitch, as he had previously stated he will sign the bill. If Scott approves as planned, logistics companies have projected that it will save around $200 per employee by joining the rest of the country in only requiring federal security clearance to the port workers and truck drivers. The legislation would require Florida to create a Florida Department of Transportation Secretary with economic development.  Also, it would require port projects to be approved in less than 60 days, as opposed to the current timeframe that can leave approval lingering for more than 2 years.

The proposed bill would create a statewide transportation plan that addresses road, port and rail needs.

This legislation is great for those of us that have to obtain yearly port passes at unreasonable cost, when we already have our TWIC cards.

New U.S. Supreme Court decision

AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 22 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S957a (Apr. 27, 2011).

Arbitration -- Class actions -- Federal Arbitration Act prohibits States from conditioning enforceability of certain arbitration agreement on availability of classwide arbitration procedures -- California supreme court's Discover Bank decision, which held that class waivers in consumer arbitration agreement are unconcionable under certain circumstances, is preempted by FAA, because it stands as an obstacle to acomplishment and execution of full purposes and objectives of Congress

This decision is huge and is a major reversal of many state decisions finding that the FAA does not preempt state law on classwide arbitrations. Should you have any questions on this decision or wish a full copy, please feel free to contact me at miamipandi@comcast.net. Regards, Michelle Otero Valdés