Opinion ID: 2626358
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Application of Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. v. Shute

Text: The holding in Bremen that forum selection clauses are presumptively enforceable under federal maritime law was extended in Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc., v. Shute, 499 U.S. 585, 111 S.Ct. 1522, 113 L.Ed.2d 622 (1991). In Shute, the plaintiff was a passenger aboard one of the defendant's cruise liners. Id. at 588, 111 S.Ct. at 1524, 113 L.Ed.2d at 628. While the vessel was off the coast of Mexico, the plaintiff was injured during a guided tour of the ship's galley. Id. Asserting negligence on the part of the defendant, she brought a tort action against the cruise line in a federal district court in the State of Washington. Id. The defendant moved for summary judgment, contending, among other arguments, that a forum selection clause in the ticket contract required any action to be brought in a court in the State of Florida. Id. The district court granted the summary judgment motion, but was reversed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Id. On review, the United States Supreme Court recognized that unlike the contract at issue in Bremen, the ticket contract in Shute was a form contract rather than the product of bargaining. Id. at 593, 111 S.Ct. at 1527, 113 L.Ed.2d at 631. Additionally, the Court recognized the lack of bargaining parity between the parties. Id. Nevertheless, the Shute Court enforced the forum selection clause in the ticket contract, removing the requirement found under Bremen that such clauses were valid only when they formed part of a freely negotiated contract. Id. The remaining requirement to be met by forum selection clauses was that they be able to pass judicial scrutiny for fundamental fairness. Id. at 595, 111 S.Ct. at 1528, 113 L.Ed.2d at 633. The facts in Shute were nearly identical to those of the present case. Both cases involve maritime torts occurring on a cruise ship off the coast of Mexico. Both cases center on the enforceability of a forum selection clause in a non-negotiated cruise ticket form contract establishing Florida as the sole appropriate forum for litigation. Neither in Shute nor here has the plaintiff raised fairness issues such as inconvenience, fraud, or overreaching. Shute, 499 U.S. at 594-95, 111 S.Ct. at 1527-28, 113 L.Ed.2d at 632-33 (stating there was no finding regarding the physical and financial impediments to the Shutes' pursuing their case in Florida ... [and][s]imilarly, there is no evidence that [the cruise line] obtained [Shute's] accession to the forum clause by fraud or overreaching.). Given the nearly identical facts in Shute, federal preemption of the field of maritime law requires us to apply the holding in that case to the matter presently before the Court. Therefore, we hold that the forum selection clause in the cruise ticket contract at issue must be enforced.