Celebrity Cruises is facing a class action lawsuit by crew members claiming it was negligent in exposing workers onboard the new ship Celebrity Apex to the coronavirus.
The complaint says the line did not provide masks and gloves, it didn’t enforce social distancing and forced crew to stay aboard even as the virus spread on the ship.
More than 200 crew members prepping new ship Celebrity Apex for launch tested positive for Covid-19.
Workers were exposed and contracted Covid-19 while the ship was still in the shipyard in St Nazaire, France.
According lead plaintiff Alexandra Nedeltcheva, 1,400 crew members were aboard getting the vessel ready for its April launch.
"The last five weeks have been a complete disaster, and I think they absolutely did not care," she said.
"We did ask if we could wear masks and our supervisor said no. I understand if there were guests to think ‘don’t cause panic’ or whatever, but it’s just crew and contractors."
The suit alleges crew were ordered to stay on the ship even after a ‘No Sail’ order was issued in the US and when France went into lockdown.
The complaint says 217 of the 1,400 crew tested positive.
