New Zealand woman Lisa Spearman wins US$20.3m payout after hand was crushed on cruise ship

Lisa Spearman has won a payout after having her hand crushed on the cruise ship. Photo / George Novak

A New Zealand woman who has won a US$20.3 million payout after her hand was crushed on a cruise ship "feels vindicated", her lawyer says.

Lisa Spearman was a marketing and revenue manager for Royal Caribbean International when a heavy watertight door smashed her right hand during a routine safety drill while docked at Barcelona in 2008.

"Her hand not only got crushed in the door, it kept getting pulled in and out of the door several times. And then they were finally able to get her hand out of the door and take her to a medical facility," her lawyer Deborah Gander told the Herald.

Spearman broke her middle finger and index finger, and fingernails were ripped from their cuticles.

Gander said the pain the injury had and continues to inflict was insufferable.

"Things that normally would not hurt such as wind blowing or rain are extraordinarily painful. And something that might normally be a little painful like a pinch or brushing [against ] a door or person are extraordinarily painful," she said.

Spearman has serious and permanent injuries. She needed two years of treatment in New Zealand while Royal Caribbean paid her a daily disability payment of US$25, as stipulated in her employee disability insurance cover, a court in Miami heard.

Spearman was officially let go by Royal Caribbean in 2010 because she was unable to perform her daily duties. She later suffered complex regional pain syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder, both of which have "severely limited her quality of life", Gander said.

Two years ago, Spearman decided to sue the Miami-based company, alleging negligence, failing to provide proper medical care, being discharged for a non-performance-related reason, breach of contract, and failing to pay her full wages.

After a three-week trial in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Miami Dade County, the jury returned the US$20.3m ($28m) verdict in favour of Spearman, finding Royal Caribbean Cruises negligent and 100 per cent liable for her injuries, absolving Spearman of any possible fault.

"We are extremely pleased with the jury's verdict," Gander said.

"This case was fiercely defended but justice rightfully prevailed in the end."

Gander claimed that in the three years before Spearman's injury, 12 other Royal Caribbean crew members suffered hand injuries when their hands were pulled into the pocket of fire doors onboard.

"We hope this case will bring awareness and lead to substantial safety changes aboard cruise ships so that injuries like Lisa's, and those of the 12 other crew members, can be avoided," she added.

Spearman, who lives in New Zealand, was an officer on the Voyager of the Seas when her hand was severely crushed by an automatic sliding door.

At the time, she was rushing to the aid of a fellow crew member who Gander says was violating the cruise ship's safety policies by going through a remotely controlled power door during a fire safety test.