Summary
This Report and Recommendation addresses Carnival Corporation’s motion for summary judgment in a maritime personal-injury action arising from a minor’s slip-and-fall on a cruise ship pool deck. The court recommends denying summary judgment because genuine disputes remain regarding the existence of an unreasonably slippery condition, whether the danger was open and obvious, and Carnival’s actual or constructive notice.
Court
United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
Jurisdiction
United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
Decision date
February 24, 2026
Docket number
1:24-cv-22770-GAYLES/REID
Disposition
other
Questions Presented
- Whether the record contained sufficient evidence to create a genuine dispute that an unreasonably slippery pool-deck condition existed and caused T.J.'s fall.
- Whether the alleged unreasonable slipperiness of the pool deck was open and obvious so as to eliminate or defeat Carnival's duty to warn.
- Whether Carnival had actual or constructive notice that the pool deck could become unreasonably slippery when wet.
- Whether T.J.'s manner of descending from the pool coping presented an undisputed open-and-obvious danger or was a contributing cause that entitled Carnival to summary judgment.
Holdings
- The evidence, viewed in Plaintiff's favor, created a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether water caused the pool deck to become unreasonably slippery and caused T.J.'s fall; therefore summary judgment was not warranted on that ground.
- Although wetness around a pool may be open and obvious, the alleged unreasonable slipperiness of the pool deck was not established as open and obvious as a matter of law. The evidence therefore created a factual dispute precluding summary judgment on the failure-to-warn theory.
- The record contained sufficient evidence to create a genuine dispute regarding Carnival's actual or constructive notice that the Deck 16 pool deck could become unreasonably slippery when wet.
- Whether T.J. jumped or stepped from the raised coping, and whether that conduct contributed to the injury, were factual questions for the jury and did not support summary judgment.
Court Document
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