Maritime / Parasailing Accident

Our client was a passenger on a parasailing vessel operated by a commercial parasailing company in Southwest Florida when she suffered a catastrophic hip fracture. What followed made a serious situation worse -- the operator continued taking passengers out to sea while our client lay on the floor of the boat with a shattered leg, unable to move. Maritime experts retained by Mausner Group identified multiple violations of maritime safety regulations during the voyage and the aftermath of the incident. Our client underwent surgery the following day and was left permanently disabled with lifelong functional limitations. Mausner Group pursued the parasailing company and its operator for maritime negligence and secured a settlement of $250,000.

Maritime law requires commercial vessel operators to exercise reasonable care for the safety of their passengers and to respond appropriately when a passenger is injured. The operator's decision to continue the voyage with an injured passenger on the boat floor -- in violation of multiple maritime safety regulations -- was not just negligent. It was the kind of conduct that exposes defendants to punitive damages, and Mausner Group made that exposure explicit in the litigation posture. Mausner Group retained maritime experts who documented the specific regulatory violations and provided opinions that supported both the negligence claim and the punitive damages theory.