Norwegian Cruise Line sues Florida surgeon general over vaccine passport ban - CNN

burongkarung.blogspot.com

(CNN) — Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is suing Florida's surgeon general over the state's law that prohibits companies from requiring customers and employees to provide documentation of Covid-19 vaccination status.

According to the complaint filed Tuesday, NCLH says the lawsuit is a "last resort" because Florida had indicated it would prevent the company from "safely and soundly resuming passenger cruise operations" next month. It described the state law as an "anomalous, misguided intrusion."

CNN has reached out to the Florida Department of Health for comment.

The NCLH complaint names Surgeon General Dr. Scott Rivkees in his capacity as "the responsible state official."

In April, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order banning the use of Covid-19 passports in the state. The order prohibited any government entity from issuing vaccine passports and blocks businesses from requiring any such documentation.

Senate Bill 2006 was signed into law on May 3, making that executive order official. "In Florida, your personal choice regarding vaccinations will be protected and no business or government entity will be able to deny you services based on your decision," DeSantis said.

The cruise line, though, wants documentation that all passengers and crew members have been fully vaccinated.

"The upshot places NCLH in an impossible dilemma as it prepares to set sail from Florida: NCLH will find itself either on the wrong side of health and safety and the operative federal legal framework, or else on the wrong side of Florida law," the complaint says.

NCLH is set to resume cruises from Florida on August 15 "in a way that will be safe, sound, and consistent with governing law," the complaint says, citing regulations set by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"The risk of transmission of COVID-19 among the unvaccinated in the close quarters of cruise ships coupled with the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines in preventing the spread of COVID19 and in reducing the deaths caused by COVID-19 makes transmission of information about COVID-19 vaccines a matter of life and death," the complaint says.

NCLH is asking the court to suspend Florida's prohibition, according to the lawsuit, filed in US District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

In May, NCLH CEO Frank Del Rio said Florida's law could cause the company to move its ships elsewhere.

"At the end of the day, cruise ships have motors, propellers and rudders, and God forbid we can't operate in the state of Florida for whatever reason, then there are other states that we do operate from, and we can operate from the Caribbean for a ship that otherwise would have gone to Florida," he said during the company's quarterly earnings call.

The CEO described the issue over the Covid regulations as a "classic state versus federal government issue." He added, "Lawyers believe that federal law applies."

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. operates three cruise lines: Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

CNN's Theresa Waldrop contributed to this report.

Adblock test (Why?)

"general" - Google News
July 14, 2021 at 02:32PM
https://ift.tt/3r7jBR3

Norwegian Cruise Line sues Florida surgeon general over vaccine passport ban - CNN
"general" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2YopsF9
https://ift.tt/3faOei7

Bagikan Berita Ini