Rebecca Coriam's family to sue Disney for $75,000

[DISNEY FANTASY]

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The parents of a British woman who went missing at sea from a Disney cruise ship are suing the company for $75,000 (£45,000).

Crew member Rebecca Coriam, 24, went missing from the Disney Wonder, off the coast of Mexico, three years ago.

Her parents Mike and Ann Coriam from Chester have filed papers against Disney claiming the entertainment giant failed in its duty of care.

A Disney spokeswoman said there was no "merit" in the legal action.

Rebecca, who was a youth worker on the ship, was last seen on 22 March 2011 at 05:45 GMT, when CCTV footage showed her making a phone call to a friend from the staff quarters. The alarm was raised four hours later when she failed to turn up for the start of her shift.

Her family claim Disney Cruise Lines acted negligently in waiting more than four hours to alert the US Coastguard, more than five hours to contact the Mexican navy and nearly seven hours to call the Bahamas police.

In legal papers filed last week, Mr and Mrs Coriam claimed that Disney gave "false and misleading" information about the ship's position when it alerted the coastguard.

They allege that Disney's security to monitor crew members and passengers was inadequate, as was its surveillance for a person falling overboard.

Mr and Mrs Coriam also claim that the company breached established protocols for a person overboard.

A spokeswoman for Disney Cruise Lines said: "This incident has been investigated by the authorities. The claims are without merit, as we will demonstrate in court."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-26728748

http://www.rebecca-coriam.com/

 

[mcurtiss]

$75,000 is probably the statutory minimum amount for certain types of complaints. I bet they are seeking much more.

 

[durangojim]

Maybe they're going to start requiring all guests and CMs wear magic bands.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

The young lady died.........making a cheap MB joke of it is in poor taste.

AKK

 

[Gabe1]

If I am Disney, I am paying that sum. It is not over the top and with the confidentiality agreement Disney tends to use, parents withdraw the case and sign the typical can't talk about it. This isn't good PR for Disney and if they look at the PR point verses merit, the costs of fighting the parents-Me pretending to be Disney, I'd just want to let this case be and put to rest.

 

[PhilharMagician]

The young lady died.........making a cheap MB joke of it is in poor taste.

AKK

Yeah, but if there was some sort of tracking device they certainly would know if someone left the vessel.

 

[HRHPrincessAriel]

Or where they are/were at any given time on the vessel.

provided they are wearing it

 

[rob0519]

Which I know I probably wouldn't. It's tough. No easy answers.

If the cruise line made wearing gps type device a condition of employment and you wanted that job you would need to wear it. I don't know the legalities of a company being able to require that though.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Yeah, but if there was some sort of tracking device they certainly would know if someone left the vessel.

True, but totally unworkable.

CM's and guests just wont wear them.

AKK

 

[PhilharMagician]

True, but totally unworkable.

CM's and guests just wont wear them.

AKK

What if that was room key, charge key, meal validation and the only means of currency control accepted on the ship? Basically without it you would have access to nothing.

Not saying it would happen, but you never know.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

What if that was room key, charge key, meal validation and the only means of currency control accepted on the ship? Basically without it you would have access to nothing.

Not saying it would happen, but you never know.

Again your points are well taken, but already here, everyone is saying they would not like to HAVE to wear them, DCL or any line would not force it on guests, thereby possibly losing bookings. Monitoring a MB in a park is simple.............what about a MB on the ship? , with all the inner areas?......what if the system loses track of a guest or CM band.................do you stop all activities and have everyone report to boats stations for a head count?.

I just don't think its a workable idea!

I just don't see it.

There are new systems coming out that can better monitor the area around the vessel for People going over board.......but even these systems are still not perfect.

AKK

 

[rob0519]

True, but totally unworkable.

CM's and guests just wont wear them.

AKK

I can understand not being able to force a guest to be tracked, but what about employees if it is made a condition of employment? The device could be considered part of a uniform that is required. Again, I'm not a labor attorney, just asking. I don't know the answer if a device goes offline as far as doing a headcount, but had she been wearing a GPS type device it may not have taken 4 hours to discover she was missing.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

I don't have the answer as I am not a atty either, but I don't see why a GPS devise could not be required of the CM's. But the problem still remains, if they lose track of a someone.. then what?.....they go looking?.......and if they don't find them in X amount of time........back to a boat mustering.


I would add, why just the employees?........why not the guests?? We lose passengers over board each year.

I am all for more safety, but it has to be a workable system.


AKK