By David Lohr
(Continued)
In June 2006, the cruise line's lawyers allegedly contacted Laurie's attorney in an attempt to settle the case, giving Laurie a confidentiality agreement to sign.
"That was their first response to our inquiry to them, when we were trying to find out his name, medical records, and personnel file, none of which they wanted to give us," Walker said. "They strictly wanted to enter into a settlement."
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Laurie declined the offer, citing that her goal was to obtain information and justice in her case. Shortly thereafter, Laurie received two solicitation letters from Royal Caribbean asking her to buy another cruise. The first, received from the cruise line's marketing department, read in part:
"Dear Laurie:
Welcome home and thanks again for sailing with Royal Caribbean International. The great thing about a Royal Caribbean cruise is that no two days are ever alike. It's a new adventure every day..."
The second letter was purportedly sent by the company president, Adam Goldstein:
"Dear Laurie:
On behalf of the staff and crew of Vision of the Seas, I'd like to thank you for sailing with us and giving us the opportunity to send you home with an experience to remember. With over 100 ports of call worldwide, we pride ourselves on bringing you adventure around every corner. You can expect just as many memorable experiences on your next Royal Caribbean cruise vacation..."
While the letters were undoubtedly form letters automatically sent out to everyone who had purchased the vacation package, they only served to add insult to injury. In an effort to get them to stop, Laurie's attorney contacted the cruise line and requested Laurie's name be removed from the mailing list. Nonetheless, shortly thereafter, Laurie received yet another letter soliciting her to join the cruise line on "another amazing vacation adventure..."
Once the form letters stopped, Laurie's attorney had two more conversations with the cruise line's lawyers asking them again to provide information on the case. The cruise line allegedly ignored those requests and for a second time offered Laurie a settlement with a confidentiality agreement. Again she refused. Finally fed up with the lack of cooperation, Laurie filed a civil lawsuit in August 2006. Shortly thereafter, an article regarding the incident was published in the Aug. 24 edition of the cruise newspaper, Cruise News Daily, which Laurie asserts was written to discredit her. Suspicious of the story, Laurie's attorney sent a request to Royal Caribbean asking that they provide copies of the emails exchanged between the cruise line and the newspaper. Royal Caribbean refused, so Laurie's attorney got a court order forcing them to turn over the emails.
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