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Judge awards Carnival $16.78 million in Mermaid pod case

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gavelOn June 15th, 2011, Judge Patricia Seitz of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida entered a judgment maintaining a jury’s January 2011 fraud verdict in favor of Carnival and against Rolls-Royce for $16,788,000. Judge Seitz found that Carnival had suffered damage as a result of being induced by Rolls-Royce to choose the Mermaid pod propulsion and steering system for its Queen Mary 2 cruise ship, based upon false statements made by Rolls-Royce.

Judge Seitz also found there was sufficient evidence to support the jury’s finding that seven statements made by Rolls-Royce to Carnival regarding the Mermaid Pods were false.

After reviewing the evidence, Judge Seitz concluded that although Rolls-Royce had not breached the warranty of workmanlike performance, she found the evidence supported the contention that the mechanical failures were the result of a defective design.

In her order, Judge Seitz found “…there was sufficient evidence for the jury to find that Rolls-Royce’s statements were a substantial factor in Carnival’s decision to use the Mermaid pods. …there is record evidence from which a jury could conclude that Rolls-Royce knew or should have known that the statements were false.”

Carnival was represented by lead attorney George Fowler of the Fowler RodriguezValdes-Fauli law firm.

June 22, 2011

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