Navigating A Course To Justice

Woman Fired From Cruise Line for Expressing Concerns over Marketing

On Behalf of | Mar 8, 2021 | Firm News

In the very early stages of the pandemic, cruise lines like Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruises, and others reached out to passengers concerning the pandemic. According to some reports that have resulted in stockholder lawsuits against Norwegian cruises and others were among the companies that downplayed the threat of the coronavirus to both stockholders and potential passengers. This has resulted in an employee lawsuit against an ad agency that fired the employee for expressing concerns over a Princess Cruises marketing assignment that minimized the threat of the coronavirus.

The woman has been ordered to revise her entire complaint before she can move forward. But a timeline of the woman’s account could prove pivotal for the pile of coronavirus lawsuits that Princess Cruises is now in the process of litigating.

The Personal Injury Lawsuits Against Princess Cruises

To set up the story, the woman worked for an ad agency whose job was to develop a marketing strategy for Princess Cruises during the shutdown. Princess Cruises was under a temporary no sail order at the time. The employee felt as though the ad campaign made “materially false” claims regarding the safety of Princess Cruise ships. At the same time, Princess Cruises was fighting off a series of lawsuits related to the exposure of guests to the deadly contagion aboard their ships. Princess Cruises allegedly knew that guests from a previous voyage had fallen ill with the virus but elected to embark on another journey.

Without commenting on the quality of the employee’s argument against her employer, which is out of the scope of this practice, it doesn’t look good for Princess Cruises, which recently issued a statement that the health and safety of their employees and guests is their number one concern. You can be assured that lawyers for the plaintiffs will be listening to this woman’s testimony concerning what she was asked to say about concerns related to the coronavirus and cruise line marketing.

Specifically, the ad agency was being asked to tell customers that it would be safe to travel aboard Princess Cruise vessels by June of last year. Obviously, that never happened. The employee refused the assignment and was fired on that basis, despite glowing reviews. Whether or not she qualifies for whistleblower protection will determine if her case is valid. But her job was to write a marketing campaign for another company and she has a fiduciary responsibility to that company, so it’s probably not looking good for her. Nonetheless, she may have improved the chances of several of the plaintiffs filing personal injury cases against Princess Cruises. You can be sure that plaintiffs’ attorneys will want to know all about the ad campaign that she was asked to generate for a company that exposed several passengers to a deadly contagion.

Talk to a Miami Maritime Attorney Today

Miami admiralty & maritime attorney Michael F. Guilford represents the interests of crew and passengers aboard cruise ships. Call today to schedule a free consultation and learn more about our services.