Agreement follows decade-long court battle over 2013 European river cruise disruptions.
Somerville Legal, the law firm which initiated a class action against Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours, has today announced a settlement agreement which will see the operator pay about $23 million in damages to 1,200 passengers.
Scenic will also pay $3 million towards the legal costs incurred by group members, with the deal following a recent NSW Court of Appeal decision which “confirmed the class members’ long-awaited and hard-fought win for economic loss and distress and disappointment damages against Scenic”.
The case followed extreme river levels and flooding in April and May 2013 which prevented river cruise vessels from safely navigating on the Rhine and Danube. Scenic did not cancel its departures but instead operated “second rate bus tours” according to Somerville Legal’s Ben Hemsworth.
“The settlement is the culmination of 10 years of protracted litigation in which Scenic resisted every step of the way…the group members must be congratulated for their resilience and willingness to stay the course,” he said.
Somerville Legal and litigation funder Omni Bridgeway Limited are currently involved in another class action against Scenic as a result of “similarly disrupted cruises” in 2018.
More details in tomorrow’s issue of Cruise Weekly.