Summary Pablo Membreno v. Costa Crociere SPA

The appellant in this case , Membreno was a citizen of Honduras . He was on a work contract with the company Costa Crociere SPA , the defendant He worked as an oiler on the ship and was employed by the Cruise Ships Catering Service International , N .V , which was a Netherlands Antilles company . The on - land office of the company was in Curacao , Netherlands Antilles . Costa was an Italian corporation whose headquarters were in Genoa , Italy . It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Carnival Corporation Panama , whose business was in Miami , Florida . It had no

offices and staff in the United States (PABLO MEMBRENO , Plaintiff , vs . COSTA CROCIERE , S .p .A , aforeign corp , and CSCS INTERNATIONAL N .V , a foreign corp , Defendants . 2004

The ships on which the plaintiff Membreno worked were vessels that sailed under the flag of Italy . Membreno joined Costa Atlantica , which was a Costa ship . The ship Costa Atlantica began its seven - day cruise from Fort Lauderdale , Florida . On that day , while on duty , Membreno injured his right wrist when a smokestack door crushed it . The ship was on international waters at that time . According to Membreno , he reported that injury to the supervisor on duty and the ship 's doctor . However , no medical treatment was given to him . Subsequently , after five days , his contract with the ship was completed and he disembarked from the ship and went to Honduras . A doctor in Honduras diagnosed Membreno with Kinnock 's disease and recommended surgery . The defendant offered him the opportunity to procure a second opinion from another doctor in Honduras Membreno declined to accept this offer and consulted an orthopedic surgeon in Miami . Subsequently , the doctor performed an operation on Membreno 's wrist . Subsequently , Membreno underwent a course of physical therapy (PABLO MEMBRENO , Plaintiff , vs . COSTA CROCIERE , S .p .A , aforeign corp , and CSCS INTERNATIONAL N .V , a foreign corp , Defendants . 2004

On 18th of June , 2003 , Membreno d a petition in the district court of the Southern District of Florida , under the Jones Act and the general maritime laws . He d the complaint alleging five counts under the Jones Act against the defendants with regard to the injury to his wrist sustained while working on the cruise ship . The defendants invoked non conveniens and sought for a dismissal of the petition . The court opined that these laws could not be invoked , because the accident did not take place within the territorial waters of the United States of America After weighing the private and public factors in the case it was decided that the case could be tried either in Italy , Honduras or the Netherlands Antilles and that there were adequate fora available to the defendants . Moreover , the court accepted the contention of the defendants that six of the eight choices of law factors were in their favor (PABLO MEMBRENO , Plaintiff , vs . COSTA CROCIERE , S .p .A , aforeign corp , and CSCS INTERNATIONAL N .V , a foreign corp , Defendants . 2004 .With regard to the base of operations of the defendants...