Federal Judges Deny Motions by Carnival to Dismiss Helms-Burton Lawsuits
District Judges James Lawrence King and Beth Bloom declined to toss federal suits against the cruise line over its use of property expropriated by the Cuban government.
August 29, 2019 at 04:28 PM
3 minute read
Carnival Corp.'s hopes of sinking litigation over its use of property seized by the Cuban government have been dashed following orders by two federal judges.
District Judge Beth Bloom denied the cruise line's motion to dismiss the complaint filed in the Southern District of Florida by the Havana Docks Corp. on Tuesday. Similarly, Senior District Judge James Lawrence King issued an order Monday rejecting Carnival's argument to toss a lawsuit brought against the company by Jacksonville surgeon Javier Garcia-Bengochea.
Both cases revolve around Carnival's use of waterfront properties which the plaintiffs claim to have owned before their expropriation by Cuba's government following the island's communist revolution. Garcia-Bengochea's suit concerns the Port of Santiago, while the Havana Docks case challenges the company's use of property in the Port of Havana.
The lawsuits were filed after the Trump administration allowed the suspension of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act to lapse on May 2. The move empowered U.S. citizens to pursue litigation against entities who purportedly traffic in Cuban property that had been privately owned prior to the revolution.
Colson Hicks Eidson attorneys representing the plaintiffs in both lawsuits declined to comment on Bloom and King's findings.
Carnival argued for the dismissal of Garcia-Bengochea and Havana Docks' complaints on the grounds that its use of the waterfront property constituted "lawful travel," thus immunizing the company from Helms-Burton claims. The cruise line also purported the passage of its ships through the port was "incident to lawful travel to Cuba" and "necessary to the conduct of such travel."
Read Bloom's order:
Additionally, the company challenged the plaintiffs' "direct interest" and claims of ownership over the properties in question. As noted by Bloom, Carnival moved for the dismissal of Havana Docks' case, "because plaintiff did not have a property interest in the Subject Property at the time Carnival was alleged to have committed the trafficking."
Bloom and King both rejected Carnival's argument for dismissal through exemption under the lawful travel provision.
"Based on the text and structure of Helms-Burton, the court holds that the lawful travel exception is an affirmative defense to trafficking that must be established by Carnival, not negated by plaintiff," King wrote.
Bloom's ruling held Helms-Burton "does not expressly make any distinction whether such trafficking needs to occur while a party holds a property interest in the property at issue."
"To this extent, the court agrees with the Plaintiff that the Defendant incorrectly conflates a claim to a property and a property interest," the judge wrote. "Accordingly, the court finds that the complaint sufficiently alleges that the plaintiff owns a claim to the subject property."
Roger Frizzell, Carnival's chief communications officer, maintained the company's position it acted within U.S. law in a statement to the Daily Business Review.
"We believe that we operated within the approved government process regarding Cuba," Frizzell said. "We look forward to proving the merits of our case."
Related stories:
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllBrazil Is Quickly Becoming a Vital LatAm Market for Greenberg Traurig, Other US Law Firms
5 minute read'Would've Been Snoring Without Ya': Fort Lauderdale Jury Awards $4.5 Million in Condo Investment Spat
4 minute readTrending Stories
- 1Gibson Dunn Sued By Crypto Client After Lateral Hire Causes Conflict of Interest
- 2Trump's Solicitor General Expected to 'Flip' Prelogar's Positions at Supreme Court
- 3Pharmacy Lawyers See Promise in NY Regulator's Curbs on PBM Industry
- 4Outgoing USPTO Director Kathi Vidal: ‘We All Want the Country to Be in a Better Place’
- 5Supreme Court Will Review Constitutionality Of FCC's Universal Service Fund
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250