Tourist sues Margaritaville at Sea after sex assault in the Bahamas
A Midwestern tourist’s summer cruise turned into a nightmare last year when she was sexually assaulted by an employee of a hotel booked by Margaritaville at Sea, according to a federal lawsuit filed this week.
The plaintiff is a young woman from Missouri who filed suit under the name “Jane Doe” to protect her privacy as a sex assault victim. Defendants include Classica Cruise Operator, which runs the Margaritaville at Sea line, three companies associated with the Wyndham Viva Fortuna Beach on Grand Bahama island, and the accused assailant, who has not been identified.
According to the lawsuit, the woman booked a two-day cruise from West Palm Beach to the Bahamas in early August 2023, with the cruise line making overnight accommodations at the Viva Fortuna Beach for guests who did not have their own cabin on board. On Aug. 6, when the woman was outside her room, a hotel employee “forced Plaintiff into the control room for the Resort’s theatre, locked the door, and then raped the Plaintiff,” according to the lawsuit.
According to the plaintiff’s lawyer, Luis Alexander Perez of Coral Gables, the cruise line and the hotel had a duty to warn passengers of the risk associated with staying at that hotel because the plaintiff’s allegations were not the first involving that hotel.
“Classica undertook a duty to arrange the Plaintiff’s hotel accommodations, and in doing so, did, or should have, researched the resort’s safety, including any prior sexual assault incidents occurring at the resort,” the lawsuit claims.
Research would have shown that a guest at the same resort publicly reported being raped in 2016. That allegation is included in the lawsuit. But according to news reports within the Bahamas, there was no evidence to support the claim and no one was ever identified, prosecuted or even charged in connection with the alleged incident.
The lawsuit accuses Classica and the resort of failing to adequately warn its passengers and guests of the risk involved with patronizing the hotel, and it accuses the resort of failing to protect its guests.
Perez said his own client is telling the truth about what happened to her and that the lawsuit was filed in good faith. A criminal investigation into her claim remains pending. The legal discovery process will determine the weight ultimately given to the 2016 incident, Perez said.
Messages seeking comment left at Classica’s corporate office in Broward County and Wyndham’s corporate headquarters were not returned Wednesday afternoon.
Classica was sued in late 2023 by another Jane Doe passenger who said she was raped and impregnated by a Margaritaville cruise ship bartender. The bartender, Hoobesh Kumar Dookhy, was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to a federal charge of abusive sexual contact in a related incident last October.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457.