The parents of a toddler who fell to her death when her grandfather accidentally dropped her from the 11th deck of a cruise ship have today lost their bid to hold Royal Caribbean legally responsible.
Alan and Kimberly Wiegand launched a negligence suit two years ago arguing that poorly designed windows and a lack of warning notices were to blame for daughter Chloe’s 150ft plunge from the Freedom of the Seas as it docked in Puerto Rico.
However a judge tossed the emotion-charged case this afternoon just days before it was due to go before a jury, ruling there was no way Royal Caribbean could have anticipated Salvatore Anello’s catastrophic decision to hold his 18-month-old granddaughter up to an open window.
Salvatore Anello accidentally dropped his 18-month-old granddaughter Chloe through an open window of the ship docked in San Juan in July 2019. Her parents blamed Royal Caribbean
Alan and Kimberly Wiegand launched a negligence suit two years ago arguing that poorly designed windows and a lack of warning notices were at fault in daughter Chloe’s 150ft plunge from the Freedom of the Seas as it docked in Puerto Rico
‘The true risk-creating danger here was Mr. Anello lifting a child up to an open window,’ wrote federal judge Donald L. Graham as he entered a summary judgement in the cruise operator’s favor.
‘The Plaintiffs have provided no evidence showing the Defendant was on notice of that danger.’
Within minutes of the decision Michael Winkleman, the Wiegand’s attorney, said the couple from South Bend, Indiana planned to appeal.
‘The family is surprised and deeply saddened by the court’s ruling. This is a matter that should be decided by a jury, and we are confident and hopeful the appellate court will agree,’ Winkleman told DailyMail.com.
‘We will be filing the appeal shortly and we will continue to fight and raise awareness about the dangers of unintentional toddler window falls. This case was always about Chloe and shining a light on her brief but beautiful life.’
Angelic Chloe and her granddad were about to embark on a seven-night Caribbean cruise with her parents, older brother, fraternal grandparents and Anello’s wife Patricia, when the freak accident unfolded in July 2019.
Anello said he did not know the window in the children´s play area was open and that he lifted 18-month-old Chloe up to it so she could knock on the glass
Chloe plummeted 150ft from the 11th floor of the ship onto a concrete dock beneath it
Haunting on-board camera footage of the incident shows Anello alone on deck with Chloe, who leads her grandfather away from the H20 zone splash pool towards the glass sides of the ship. He lifts the toddler up and sits her down on a wooden handrail but suddenly she tumbles forwards and disappears from view
Haunting on-board camera footage captured the grandfather holding the little girl up to the glass sides of the ship for 34 seconds before she suddenly tumbled through an opening and fell onto the concrete Pan American Pier 2 in
