by Spencer Aronfeld | May 22, 2020 | Coronavirus, Covid-19, Cruise Ship News
The cruise ship owned by Prairie Grand, LLC, a company founded by famed radio personality, Garrison Keillor, has been docked and on hold since the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic began. The vessel, the Veendam, was set to sail with 1,350 passengers for the Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale on March 18. However, Keillor’s company cancelled the trip as details on the COVID-19 crisis began to develop. Shortly after, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a “no-sail order,” which has been extended through July 24, essentially docking all cruises sailing from the U.S. Most cruise companies, such as Carnival, have allowed their customers to either request a refund or rebook with 125 percent credit. However, receiving a refund through Keillor’s Prairie Home Cruises has not been so easy, mostly because the ship is operated through a charter company. How the charter relationships work is the company rents the boat from a larger cruise corporation. Prairie Home Cruises operates their cruise through a rental from Holland America. Keillor has been less than forthcoming with passengers who are out thousands of dollars. Six weeks after the cancellation, he sent a mass email which included his personal experience regarding to sheltering in place and plans for a book he intends to write where residents of his fictional town, Lake Wobegon, collectively catch a virus from eating cheese. Keillor continued, offering to sell advice copies of the novel. Passengers who have attempted to get refunds for their tickets have reported having to push through a lot of red tape to get any response. This fact has been disappointing to the loyal following...
by Spencer Aronfeld | May 12, 2020 | Coronavirus, Covid-19, Lawsuit, Personal Injury
The fallout from the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis has hit our nation’s legal system. It has been reported that 917 federal and state lawsuits have been filed due to the pandemic on a number of legal grounds ranging from unsafe working conditions for frontline workers to individuals and businesses facing financial difficulties. And it appears this is just the beginning. Global and national disasters regularly bring on an onslaught of legal filings, as was the case following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The number of deaths reported in the U.S. have surpassed the number of Americans killed during the Vietnam War. COVID-19 has led to more than 30 million unemployment filings, the highest since the Great Depression. One of the main categories of lawsuits being filed involve those being brought by frontline workers, such as nurses and doctors, who claim that their employers are not providing them with sufficient protective gear while working. Their lawsuits also allege that their employers are forcing them to work in unsafe work conditions, leading many of them to contract the disease from patients whose lives they are trying to save. Workplace safety issues are also a concern of those in the grocery and retail industry, as workers allege their employers are not providing them with safety gear, exposing them to the risk of contracting COVID-19. Other employment lawsuits have been filed under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act passed by Congress in March 2020. Under this act, employers were required to offer paid leave for child-care because many parents were forced to stay at home or figure out a way to work from home due...
