Illinois man awarded $21.5 million for getting hit by cruise ship’s sliding door
Can the rest of us get hit by those doors too?
An Illinois businessman won a whopping $21.5 million in damages — reportedly one of the largest recent sums from a federal court — because he was hit in the head by a sliding glass door on a cruise ship years ago.
The lawyer for James R. Hausman said the man suffered seizures, vertigo and memory loss from his door disaster — which was caught on camera — although Hausman still managed to finish his 280-day world cruise, The Seattle Times reported.
“He didn’t get better,” Hausman’s lawyer Rick Friedman said after the verdict earlier this month.
“And he did not try to hide this. He still has troubles with things that would have been simple before.”
Hausman apparently isn’t alone: His attorney showed evidence to a Seattle jury that dozens of other passengers have been smacked by sliding doors on other ships from the cruise company, Holland America Line.
Hausman left with his wife, daughter and a tutor from Seattle in September 2011 and traveled to Russia, China and through Southeast Asia and the South Pacific.
In November, as the vessel approached Honolulu, Hausman was whacked by the doors on his way to a pool. Surveillance footage shows several crew members walking through the doors before they suddenly closed on Hausman.
A doctor on the ship told Hausman he suffered a facial contusion and chipped tooth, and then diagnosed him with “post-concussion” syndrome, the Times reported. But neurological tests later showed Friedman suffered a minor brain injury, which spurred a slew of health problems he still suffers today, his attorney said. Medical studies have long shown seizures, veritgo and memory loss can result from blows to the head.
Eight jurors unanimously ruled in favor of Hausman, who is a gold and metals shop owner in Springfield. The verdict comprised $16.5 million in punitive damages, and another $5 million for Hausman’s past and future pain and distress.
After the trial, Hausman told the Illinois Times he tried to settle with Holland for $10 million but the company refused.
“In my opinion, they were granted everything that they asked for in trial,” he said.
“Holland America was granted literally every defense motion that they wanted.”
Hausman, a former pilot, also told the paper about the pain he still suffers from the sliding door incident.
“I’ll be on seizure drugs the rest of my life,” he said. “I’ll never fly a plane again. The vertigo, it will be with me the rest of my life.”
Holland said it would appeal but did not comment further on the verdict.
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