Carnival Corporation faces a $10 million lawsuit over the Costa Concordia disaster.
The lawsuit claims the ship run by Italian subsidiary Costa Cruises suffered from an unsafe design, and that the company profited while putting passengers at risk.
The suit was filed in California by Attorney John Arthur Eaves on behalf of two unnamed people.
US personal injury attorney Eaves claimed that the design of the ship contributed to the slow evacuation of the vessel after it hit rocks off the Italian island of Giglio in January with the loss of 32 lives.
“We filed a claim against Carnival, and against the architects and designers for the propensity of Costa Concordia to roll and list and because of the maze-effect within the vessel,” he said.
Eaves claimed Carnival “intentionally ignored safety concerns”.
“We thought it is not right for Carnival to make huge profits by doing the wrong thing,” he said.
Eaves is representing clients from several countries and has urged survivors and victims’ relatives to sue the parent company in the US rather than Costa in Italy to increase compensation payments and help push through worldwide changes.
Concordia captain Francesco Schettino remains under house arrest, having been accused of sailing too close to the island and causing the accident.