Costa Concordia Victims get Case sent back to Florida State Court

It has been almost a year and a half have since the Italian cruise ship, Costa Concordia, ran aground off the coast of Tuscany at Isola del Giglio. The ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino, had performed an unofficial offshore salute to the island, causing it become lodged on the reef. The ship was carrying a total of 4,252 passengers, including crew, when the grounding occurred resulting in 64 injuries, and 32 deaths, with two individuals reported missing and presumed dead.

The parent company of the Costa Concordia is Costa Cruises, owned by Carnival Corporation. Many of the passengers of the Costa Concordia have filed cases against the companies in both the United States and around the world for injuries and damages received when the vessel grounded.

Currently, plaintiffs involved in a lawsuit against Carnival have won a major victory against the company. After filing the cases Abeid-Saba, et al., v. Carnival Corporation et al. and Scimone, et al. v. Carnival Corp. et al. in Florida State Court, Carnival Corporation had the cases moved to the U.S. District Court in Southern Florida under CAFTA (Class Action Fairness Act of 2005; allows for removal to federal courts for “mass action” cases). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit of Florida has removed the cases back to Florida State Court where they were originally filled.