Costa Concordia Lawsuit - Carnival Cruise LineCarnival won its first step in battling lawsuits filed against it arising our of the January 2012 Costa Concordia disaster when a a federal court judge in Florida dismissed a lawsuit filed by Italian businesses against it.

U.S. District Court judge Robin Rosenbaum held that the lawsuits against Carnival should be filed in Italy. 1,000 businesses on the island of Giglio where the Concordia cruise ship ran aground near the harbor tried to sue Carnival in Florida because it is the parent company for Costa which is based in Genoa, Italy.

Whereas we would like to see Carnival sued here in Florida for the disaster, this is an outcome that we expected. We recently wrote about whether the cruise lines can be sued here in the U.S. – "Will Costa Concordia Passengers Be Able to Sue Costa and Carnival in the U.S.?"

This development does not bode well for the lawsuits filed against Carnival on behalf of passengers and crew members who were aboard the Concordia when it capsized.