''Spector v. Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd.'', 545 U.S. 119 (2005), was a

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point ...

decision that determined (in a 6–3 decision) that the

Americans with Disabilities Act The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 19 ...

(ADA) applies to foreign

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours know ...

s in American waters.

Background

Douglas Spector and the four other

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, s ...

plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the ...

s use mobility scooters and

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries (paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebra ...

s. They sued

Norwegian Cruise Line Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), also known in short as Norwegian, is an American cruise line founded in 1966, incorporated in Bermuda and headquartered in Miami. It is the List of cruise lines, fourth-largest cruise line in the world by passengers, ...

under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act after traveling aboard cruise ships (the

Norwegian Sea The Norwegian Sea ( no, Norskehavet; is, Noregshaf; fo, Norskahavið) is a marginal sea, grouped with either the Atlantic Ocean or the Arctic Ocean, northwest of Norway between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea, adjoining the Barents Sea to ...

and the

Norwegian Star ''Norwegian Star'' is a ''Dawn''-class cruise ship operated by Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL). Ordered by and intended for Star Cruises, it was originally named ''SuperStar Libra'' before being transferred to NCL. ''Norwegian Star'' is a Panamax ...

) registered in the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the archi ...

. Spector had purchased premium tickets, which were marketed as more handicap friendly. However, the ship was not easily accessible. He had limited or no access to

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

s, restaurants,

elevator An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They ar ...

s, and

public restrooms A public toilet, restroom, public bathroom or washroom is a room or small building with toilets (or urinals) and sinks for use by the general public. The facilities are available to customers, travelers, employees of a business, school pupi ...

because of physical barriers. The premium room was of lower quality than less expensive non-wheelchair friendly rooms. He was not allowed to participate in emergency drills and no emergency exit plan was laid out for disabled persons. Norwegian Cruise Line argued that American laws did not apply to the cruise line because it was registered in the Bahamas. The cruise line's ships, however, were based out of

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as ...

s. Spector first sued the cruise line in

federal district court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

in Houston, Texas (Spector's home town). The court ruled against Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd. saying that despite their

foreign flag Flag of convenience (FOC) is a business practice whereby a ship's owners register a merchant ship in a ship register of a country other than that of the ship's owners, and the ship flies the civil ensign of that country, called the flag state ...

they must abide by American laws when in American waters. The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturned the lower court and moved for the case to be dismissed. Spector appealed the case to the Supreme Court.

Decision

The judgment of the Fifth Circuit was reversed and the case was remanded for further proceedings.

Associate Justice Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some sta ...

Anthony Kennedy Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1988 until his retirement in 2018. He was nominated to the court in 1987 by Preside ...

delivered the judgment of the court and was joined by Justice

John Paul Stevens John Paul Stevens (April 20, 1920 – July 16, 2019) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1975 to 2010. At the time of his retirement, he was the second-olde ...

, Justice

David Souter David Hackett Souter ( ; born September 17, 1939) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1990 until his retirement in 2009. Appointed by President George H. W. Bush to fill the seat ...

, Justice

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; ; March 15, 1933September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated by President ...

, and Justice

Stephen Breyer Stephen Gerald Breyer ( ; born August 15, 1938) is a retired American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1994 until his retirement in 2022. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton, and re ...

(as to Parts I, II–A–1, and II–B–2); Justice Stevens, and Justice Souter (as to Parts II–A–2, II–B–1, II–B–3, and III–B); and Justice Stevens, Justice Souter, and Justice

Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall and has served since 19 ...

(as to Part III–A). Justice Ginsburg wrote an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment, in which she was joined by Justice Breyer. Justice Thomas wrote an opinion concurring in part, dissenting in part, and concurring in the judgment in part. Justice

Antonin Scalia Antonin Gregory Scalia (; March 11, 1936 – February 13, 2016) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2016. He was described as the intellectu ...

wrote a dissenting opinion in which he was joined by Chief Justice

William Rehnquist William Hubbs Rehnquist ( ; October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) was an American attorney and jurist who served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 33 years, first as an associate justice from 1972 to 1986 and then as the 16th chief justice from ...

, Justice

Sandra Day O'Connor Sandra Day O'Connor (born March 26, 1930) is an American retired attorney and politician who served as the first female associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. She was both the first woman nominated and th ...

, and which was joined by Justice Thomas (as to Part I–A).''Spector v. Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd.'', 545 U.S. 119 (2005) (Scalia, J., dissenting).

References

External links

* {{caselaw source , case = ''Spector v. Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd.'', {{ussc, 545, 119, 2005, el=no , findlaw =https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/545/119.html , justia =https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/545/119/ , oyez =https://www.oyez.org/cases/2004/03-1388
National Council on Disability article on the case
United States disability case law United States Supreme Court cases 2005 in United States case law Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 Norwegian Cruise Line United States Supreme Court cases of the Rehnquist Court

Background

Decision

See also

References

External links