Slip and Fall on Norwegian Pride of America Cruise Ship

Judge James Lawrence King denied Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss in Baker v. NCL AMERICA, LLC et al, Case 1:19-cv-24442-JLK. This order is significant because even though Defendants’ Motion asserted various arguments including that (a) Plaintiff’s Complaint is an impermissible shotgun pleading; (b) the Complaint fails to allege specific facts establishing Norwegian’s actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition; (c) the Complaint seeks to impose a higher standard of care on Norwegian than the duty of “reasonable care under the circumstances” required by maritime law; (d) the negligent training and supervision claims are unsupported by specific factual allegations; and (e) the Complaint fails to state a claim for negligence per se,  the Court only determined whether the Amended Complaint had sufficiently alleged notice.

Additionally, this order is significant because there is a conflict between Judges in the Southern District of Florida as to how and to what extent notice must be pled in a complaint in order for it to be sufficient to withstand a motion to dismiss. The Court denied Defendants’ Motion and held that the Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint had sufficiently alleged Defendants’ actual and constructive notice of the large puddle where Plaintiff slipped and fell on board the NCL Pride of America.