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Article published Dec 12, 2007
Lake Winnipesaukee
Cruise line sued in overboard death
Staff should have stopped serving drinks, wife says
By ANNMARIE TIMMINS
Monitor staff
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Dec 12, 2007
A woman whose husband died after falling overboard the M/S Mount Washington during a 2006 Halloween cruise on Lake Winnipesaukee has filed a lawsuit against the ship's owners.
Karen Sylvestre of Hooksett argues the ship's staff erred by serving alcohol to her husband, 45-year-old James Sylvestre, when they knew or should have known he was intoxicated. It's the first time anyone has directly linked Sylvestre's fatal accident with alcohol.
The police have said only that alcohol was served on board the cruise and may have been a factor in the accident.
The lawsuit, filed last week in Merrimack County Superior Court by Manchester attorney Vincent Wenners, however, is more pointed. "The (ship's owners) and its employees had a duty not to serve alcoholic beverages to an already intoxicated person during the cruise," it reads. It goes on to say that employees knew or should have know that Sylvestre "was intoxicated."
The Winnipesaukee Flagship Corp., which owns the M/S Mount Washington, has not had time to respond to the lawsuit. The company's president, R. Sean O'Kane, could not be reached yesterday afternoon.
Wenners said yesterday that he could not comment on the lawsuit while it is pending.
The lawsuit, which is only a page long, does not indicate how Wenners will show that Sylvestre was allegedly intoxicated when he was served by the ship's crew. One option, however, may be by calling witnesses who were on board, including Sylvestre's wife.
In the lawsuit, Wenners argues that staff operated the ship in a way that caused Sylvestre to fall overboard.
Wenners also says the company failed to find Sylvestre during the search that immediately followed.
The Sylvestres were on the ship together Oct. 28, when James Sylvestre fell overboard about 10 p.m. Crews from the state Marine Patrol and Fish and Game Department spent days searching for Sylvestre's body, despite strong winds and violent waters.
The ship's operators issued a statement at the time saying their thoughts were with the Sylvestres.
Sylvestre's body was found after nearly a year in September by a fisherman. Family members said finding his body had brought some relief. Karen Sylvestre had spent the year visiting Lake Winnipesaukee and asking everyone to keep an eye out for her husband, a marina manager said in September.
In her lawsuit, Karen Sylvestre said her husband's death has caused her mental and physical pain and suffering.
She has requested unspecified damages.
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By ANNMARIE TIMMINS
Monitor staff