American Cruise Lines Agrees to Make Fleet More Wheelchair-Accessible in ADA Settlement
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No specific sequence was given to crew in the galley, crew quarters, and various other cabins for turning on the faucets, taps, showerheads, and other locations to run the disinfectant. The government and the Discovery Zone Learning Center (“Discovery Zone”), a private childcare center with locations in Columbia, Hebron, and Marlborough, Connecticut, have entered into a settlement agreement to resolve... The largest U.S. domestic cruise line, the Guilford, CT company, sails river and coastal cruise itineraries on small ships accommodating up to 180 guests. Attorney’s Office is committed to safeguarding civil rights, including those protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act,” said Vanessa Roberts Avery, US Attorney for the District of Connecticut. "There's no transparency with regard to any of the information in terms of who are the physicians on board the ships; what is the history with regard to malpractice or passenger complaints; or even where the physicians are trained or registered from," Klein said.
FDA concerned other American Cruise Lines’ ships could have a Legionnaires’ contamination due to company’s practices
We received your new Water Log on July 12, 2022, which provides for recording water samples from (b)(4) for temperature, free chlorine, and pH. You changed the Water Log on August 17, 2022, to specify hot or cold water for each location. In addition, you created an additional Water Log, received by FDA on August 17, 2022, to record water samples for temperature, free chlorine, and pH (b)(4) on (b)(4) from (b)(4) on the vessel. The U.S. Department of Justice received six complaints that the cruise line’s ships were not “accessible to or usable by individuals with disabilities who use wheelchairs,” according to the statement. The FDA stressed it would “not be appropriate” for the cruise company to wait until a confirmed case of Legionnaires’ disease arose on another one of the company’s ships for it to address its water-safety practices.
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It is your responsibility to ensure that your firm complies with all requirements of federal law, including FDA regulations. This letter notifies you of our concerns and provides you an opportunity to address them. Failure to adequately address this matter may result in legal action including, without limitation, seizure and injunction. On August 1, 2022, FDA received a new (b)(4) Water Log and a (b)(4) Water Log to replace the (b)(4) Water Log and to be completed (b)(4) from (b)(4). Further, the disinfection you performed on (b)(4), was not sufficient as demonstrated by FDA’s sampling results from June 15, 2022 that showed the presence of Legionella in a passenger cabin.
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The system, which is being supplied by the Netherlands-based Value Maritime, will be the first commercial installation of a CO2 capture system on a Japanese vessel as well as the first LR1 tanker and largest vessel to employ the Filtree System.The... For reasons unclear, two of Russia's sanctioned military supply ships have had to make a heroic journey around Europe after their latest run to the naval base at Tartus, Syria. The freighter Sparta IV has traveled back and forth between Russia and Tartus for years, moving equipment and stores for the Russian military. Tartus is an important base, providing the Russian Navy with a year-round, sanctions-free haven in the Mediterranean.
Include an explanation of each step being taken to prevent the recurrence of violations, as well as copies of related documentation. If you cannot complete corrective actions within 15 working days, state the reason for the delay and the time within which you will do so. If you believe that your products are not in violation of the Act, include your reasoning and any supporting information for our consideration. Passengers who used wheelchairs also reported not feeling safe during embarkation and disembarkation processes; they also claimed the cruise line did not provide wheelchair-accessible ground transportation during shore excursions.
The lawsuits highlight several key areas of concern, including environmental impact, safety and security issues, and consumer complaints. Failure to Monitor Potable Water ParametersYou did not monitor parameters of the potable water, such as free or total chlorine residual, temperatures, and pH on the vessel when docked and not in operation or while in operation. If you find that one or more of these parameters is not being met, the next step would be to take corrective actions to get conditions back within an acceptable range for the vessel’s potable water system.
American Cruise Lines Settles Unpaid Overtime Class Action Lawsuit
According to Professor Klein, even if a passenger wanted to investigate the quality of care on a cruise ship, they wouldn't get very far. "So what we found in our cases is they hired doctors from all over the world with minimal experience, with experience that certainly isn't sufficient to be the sole or one of two doctors on a ship with five thousand passengers," said Michaels. "Every doctor that we had had in one of these cases is not even been certified to practice in the United States. So if a passenger suffered an injury while getting on the ship, the doctor wouldn't be able to treat them. But the second that ship leaves these five thousand people out there have nowhere else to turn."
You also provided notifications to passengers onboard the vessel previously that departed on June 18, 2022, June 25, 2022, July 2, 2022, and July 9, 2022. During our inspections, FDA investigators collected biofilm swabs and potable water samples from your American Star and American Heritage vessels. Laboratory Analysis of those samples identified Legionella pneumophilia serogroup 1 and Legionella spp. FDA investigators also observed insanitary conditions related to the potable water systems onboard the vessels. At the conclusion of the inspections, the FDA investigators issued a Form FDA 483, Inspectional Observations, to both vessels. American Cruise Lines, a renowned name in the cruise industry, has been navigating through turbulent waters recently due to a series of lawsuits and legal challenges.
Legionella Found on American Heritage Cruise Ship
For example, if you take on water that is disinfected with chloramine, you would need to monitor both free chlorine and total chlorine. For example, a potable water holding tank that has just been flushed, refilled, and immediately sampled for potable water parameters would likely indicate the current parameters of the potable water taken onboard. A potable water tank that has not been flushed and/or refilled for a period of time such as a few days would be informative as to what occurs to the potable water after filling onboard and whether acceptable ranges of potable water parameters continue to be met.
Feds: CT cruise company to make ships, trips more wheelchair-friendly - New Haven Register
Feds: CT cruise company to make ships, trips more wheelchair-friendly.
Posted: Tue, 09 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
These legal battles have raised concerns about environmental impact, safety and security issues, and consumer complaints. In this article, we will delve into the details of the American Cruise Lines lawsuit, examining the allegations, legal proceedings, consequences, and the company’s response. During the disinfection, you did not measure the disinfectant level, pH, and temperature to verify that an adequate amount of the disinfectant at an appropriate pH and temperature reached the proximal, medial, and distal faucets and showerheads and other areas that are part of the potable water system. Without verifying the disinfectant level, pH, and temperature during disinfection in a complex potable water system such as a vessel you cannot know whether the disinfection was effective in various areas of the potable water system. In addition, you did not perform environmental sampling of the potable water system, i.e., testing biofilm swabs and bulk potable water for microorganisms such as Legionella, to validate the effectiveness of the disinfection and your frequency of disinfection ((b)(4)). As a result of the settlement agreement, American Cruise Lines will submit a comprehensive remediation plan to improve accessibility for passengers with disabilities aboard all ships within 18 months.
Cruise lines routinely hide information from the public as well as their passengers, according to Prof. Ross Klein, who has studied the cruise industry for decades and written four books. The Puchalski case is part of a growing number of lawsuits raising questions about the care provided by cruise lines. Aside from the Water Logs, we have not received documentation regarding your procedures for water monitoring, documentation of these procedures being accomplished (i.e., completed Water Logs), and verification that these procedures are effective. We have similar concerns with regards to these Water Logs as we express earlier in this letter for the Water Logs for the American Star. The Engineering Manager stated that disinfection was performed once from March 2021 to March 2022 and (b)(4) during (b)(4) from (b)(4).
A senior enlisted Navy servicemember has been convicted of attempted espionage for delivering classified information to a foreign government, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service said Friday. In January, Chief Fire Controlman (Aegis) Bryce Steven Pedicini was charged with multiple counts of attempted espionage for mishandling or disclosing classified information. Pedicini was a former destroyer crewmember who worked on the Aegis system, the Navy's integrated radar and weapons control platform. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data.
1 Notification by CDC is based on travel on a cruise ship during any of the 14 days before symptom onset. American Cruise Lines has agreed to make its fleet and its itineraries more accessible to wheelchair users under a newly announced settlement with the United States Attorney’s Office. American Cruise Lines has been given within 15 working days to notify the agency in writing the specific steps the small-ship cruise line has taken to address alleged violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. According to the court documents, notice of the American Cruise Lines settlement will be mailed to Class Members’ last known address within seven days of the preliminary approval date.
Under federal law, private entities that own or operate places of “public accommodation,” including cruise ships, are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of disability. The ADA authorizes the Justice Department to investigate complaints and undertake periodic reviews of compliance of covered entities. The Justice Department is also authorized to commence a civil lawsuit in federal court in any case that involves a pattern or practice of discrimination or that raises issues of general public importance, and to seek injunctive relief, monetary damages, and civil penalties. The movement that led to the Americans with Disability Act started in 1988 and culminated with the passage of the legislation in 1990. Under federal law, private entities that own or operate places of “public accommodation,” including cruise ships, are prohibited from discriminating based on disability.
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