By Y. Peter Kang

Law360 (May 27, 2020, 10:11 PM EDT ) Royal Caribbean on Wednesday asked a Florida federal judge to dismiss a proposed class action accusing the cruise line company of negligently exposing workers to COVID-19, which led to three crew members' deaths, saying the named plaintiff did not personally incur the alleged injuries.

While named plaintiff Mykola Molchun had claimed the popular cruise line exposed crew members to the novel coronavirus by requiring workers to participate in shipboard drills and continuing to allow employees to eat in buffet settings, among other allegations, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. countered in a motion to dismiss that Molchun himself could not have possibly suffered the "laundry list" of injuries alleged in the complaint.

Instead, Molchun alleges that other crew members contracted COVID-19 or live in fear of developing future injuries due to their exposure, resulting in physical and emotional injuries requiring medical and psychological treatment, the company said.

"Plaintiff is required to identify the injuries and damages that he has supposedly suffered as a result of Royal Caribbean's allegedly negligent conduct," the motion states. "The shotgun-style pleading in bulk of every injury that could conceivably befall a person is decidedly insufficient to state a claim."

Royal Caribbean said the maritime claims that Molchun alleges — including Jones Act negligence, unseaworthiness and failure to provide maintenance and cure — require a showing that Molchun himself suffered cognizable injuries.

"It is axiomatic that an essential element of each of those claims is that plaintiff must have been injured and suffered damages as a result of Royal Caribbean's alleged conduct," it said.

The company said attorneys representing Molchun are already aware that the "kitchen sink" approach to class action litigation is not feasible because the Eleventh Circuit previously shut down a similar suit filed by the attorneys. That suit, which alleged that Royal Caribbean negligently exposed passengers to Hurricane Harvey in 2017, was tossed because the named plaintiffs failed to identity any personal injuries or damages that he or she suffered, according to Wednesday's filing.

"The Eleventh Circuit has made clear that a named plaintiff in a putative class action must personally incur injury and damages, and cannot borrow or otherwise rely upon injuries and damages that unnamed class members might have incurred," the company said.

Representatives for the parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The suit was filed in late April and alleges that Royal Caribbean displayed an "alarming lack of caution" for the safety of its workers and caused at least three crew members who worked on different ships to die of the virus.

According to the complaint, Royal Caribbean Cruises "glaringly failed to follow even the most basic safety precautions," allegedly ignoring recommendations made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the management of coronavirus outbreaks and failing to promptly diagnose infected workers or provide proper treatment.

The complaint estimates more than 10,000 workers make up the proposed class, including crew members who had either been subjected to dangerous conditions or contracted the virus because of Royal Caribbean Cruises' "lackadaisical approach to the safety" of its employees.

The proposed class is represented by Jason R. Margulies, Michael A. Winkleman, Jacqueline Garcell and L. Alex Perez of Lipcon Margulies Alsina & Winkleman PA.

Royal Caribbean is represented by Sanford L. Bohrer, Alex M. Gonzalez and Scott D. Ponce of Holland & Knight LLP and Jerry D. Hamilton, Evan S. Gutwein and Annalisa Gutierrez of Hamilton Miller & Birthisel LLP.

The case is Mykola Molchun v. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., case number 1:20-cv-21792, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

--Additional reporting by Jasmin Boyce. Editing by Emily Kokoll.

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