Chloe’s parents, Alan Weigand and Kimberly Schultz Weigand, sued Royal Caribbean for negligence.
“In this case, the danger of lifting the deceased over the handrail and extending it to the open window was open and obvious, so the defendant had no duty to warn his passengers of the dangers of such conduct,” Graham said in the sentence. wrote . Filed in the Southern District of Florida.
Anello had said that he picked up Chloe and placed her feet on the wooden railing and, according to the sentence, when she reached out to touch the window, she felt no glass. Video footage of Cruz showed the grandfather leaning on the railing with the window open before he picked up the child, Graham wrote in the resolution.
“Despite hearing no glass in front of him, and without confirming that the window was closed, Mr. Aniello lifted the deceased beyond the wooden handrail and extended his body close to the window opening…bringing him to the open window and the dock. Where he fell down and died,” Joomla said.
The judge said it was not Royal Caribbean’s responsibility to warn passengers of the “obvious danger of placing a child by or through an open window”.
“This court finds that a reasonable person would have known through the ordinary use of his senses of the dangers associated with Mr. Aniello’s conduct. Consequently, the defendant had no duty to warn him,” the sentence said.
A lawyer for the family said they were shocked and saddened by the sentence and would soon file an appeal.
“This is a matter for a jury to decide and we believe and hope the appeals court will agree,” attorney Michael Winkelman said in a statement. “We will continue to fight and raise awareness about the dangers of unintentional window falls to young children. This case has always been about Chloe and giving birth to her short but beautiful life. That goal has not changed.”
CNN has reached out to Royal Caribbean for comment.
An 18-month-old girl fell and died.
