| Class action appeal

ATTEMPTS to include American passengers in an Australian class action over the Ruby Princess incident in the early days of the pandemic have failed, after an appeal was rejected by a Federal Court decision on Fri.

Carnival plc and Princess Cruise Lines Limited appealed an earlier ruling, with the new judgement disallowing a claim by Patrick Ho, one of 696 passengers whose contracts were deemed to be subject to American terms and conditions, which include a class action waiver clause and an exclusive jurisdiction clause.

The litigants allege that the cruise companies failed to take adequate measures to protect passengers from the risk of contracting COVID-19 and breached the Australian Consumer Law.