LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – Viking River Cruises is facing a class action lawsuit filed by passengers who claim the cruise line fraudulently diverted money paid by passengers intended to be tips or gratuities for employees into its own special account.
Mercedes Rosenberg, Bennet Feldman, Andre Von Hoyer and Olga Van Hoyer filed a complaint Nov. 12 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against Viking River Cruises Inc., doing business as Viking Cruises, alleging fraud, violation of California's Unfair Competition Law and Consumers Legal Remedies Act and unjust enrichment.
The plaintiffs allege that Viking encouraged passengers to contribute to tips for crew members and that instead of giving the tips to crew members, Viking "diverted" 10 percent of all the gratuities from the passengers to a Viking tip account.
"(T)he 10 percent of passenger tips or gratuities which were converted by Viking represent ill-gotten gains obtained through a fraudulent scheme," the plaintiffs claim in their suit.
The plaintiffs seek punitive and treble damages, restitution, a trial by jury, interest and all other just relief. They are represented by Ray Gallo of Gallo LPP in Berkeley, California; Christopher Lynch of Hunter Lynch Law in Coral Gables, Florida; Edmund Normand and Jacob Phillips of Normand PLLC in Orlando, Florida; and David Shenkman of David M. Shenkman PA in Coral Gables, Florida.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California Western Division case number 2:19-CV-09691-CAS-AS