Michigan Appeals Court Orders Royal Caribbean Cruises Back Into Lawsuit
Fine Art Registry® Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MICHIGAN APPEALS COURT ORDERS ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES BACK INTO LAWSUIT
AS CO-DEFENDANTS WITH PARK WEST GALLERY, SUED BY DISSATISFIED CUSTOMERS
(Detroit, MI, USA — 15 December 2009) An order issued by the Michigan Court of Appeals on 11 December 2009, effectively brought Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. as co-defendants with Park West Gallery, back into a court case from which they had been dismissed. The complaint against Royal Caribbean, Park West Gallery, its CEO Albert Scaglione, and gallery director Morris Shapiro, was filed in December 2008 by dissatisfied customers of Park West Gallery and Royal Caribbean cruises through the plaintiffs' Michigan attorneys, Kaufman, Payton and Chapa. It alleged violation of Michigan's warranty in fine arts statute, fraud, breach of contract, violation of the Michigan consumer protection act, violation of the Michigan art multiples sales act, negligent misrepresentation, conspiracy and unjust enrichment. Two of the ten plaintiffs accused Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. of complicity in all of the charges against Park West Gallery.
Two of the plaintiffs, Sharon Day and Julian Howard, had been sold approximately $500,000 worth of signed Salvador Dali prints which were subsequently, in an investigation led and supported by Fine Art Registry®, found by experts to be practically worthless due to forged signatures on the prints. Since they had paid the money directly into a Royal Caribbean Cruises bank account and Royal Caribbean Cruises gets a large cut of sales of art by Park West Gallery to Royal Caribbean passengers, Day and Howard included Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. as co-defendants in all counts against the art gallery, its CEO and its gallery director. This was after their plea to the cruise line to help them in their request for a refund from Park West Gallery had been refused.
Royal Caribbean's attorney moved to dismiss the lawsuit on the basis that if anyone was at fault for selling questionable art to the Plaintiffs, it was Park West Gallery who owned the artwork and/or the auctioneer who sold the artwork, and not Royal Caribbean. This was despite the fact that the money for the Day/Howard purchase at issue in the case was deposited into Royal Caribbean's bank account and accepted by the company, and the unadvertised fact that Royal Caribbean contractually gets a considerable cut of the sale of artwork sold by Park West Gallery to Royal Caribbean cruise passengers. The presiding judge granted Royal Caribbean's Motion to Dismiss, and later denied a Motion by Day/Howard's attorneys to Amend the Complaint to more sufficiently explain why Royal Caribbean was at least partly responsible for the sale of questionable artwork to Day/Howard, especially by way of the "agency" theory of liability.
Day/Howard's counsel then filed an Application for Leave to Appeal with the Michigan Court of Appeals to review the decision to dismiss Royal Caribbean from the case and to deny Day/Howard's Motion to Amend their Complaint, their only recourse to get Royal Caribbean back into the case without having to wait until the end of the ongoing case with Park West Gallery.
The Appeals Court issued an Order on December 11, 2009, (Docket No. 293502, LC No. 2008-096952-CZ) overturning the trial Court's earlier decision that Royal Caribbean wasn't responsible for the sale of questionable art, and the court's refusal to let Day/Howard Amend their Complaint to bring Royal Caribbean back into the case. The Court of Appeals decision effectively inserts Royal Caribbean back into this case. Instead of the more usual process of granting the application for leave to appeal, and then considering the appeal after additional briefs are submitted, the Michigan Court of Appeals took the unusual step of issuing an Order immediately overturning the trial Court's Order without further briefing or deliberations.
The Court of Appeals Order not only overturns the decision of the lower court, but also goes into more detail about the claims asserted by Day/Howard in the case, thereby setting important precedent not only for this matter, but also for similar cases. The Michigan Court of Appeals indicated in their Order that Day/Howard had asserted sufficient facts in their proposed Amended Complaint which, if proven "could establish an agency relationship between" Park West Galleries, Inc., the on-board auctioneer, and Royal Caribbean. Further, the Court of Appeals indicated that the facts presented in Day/Howard's proposed Amended Complaint and application for leave to appeal indicated "the existence of binding contractual relationships between" Park West Galleries, Inc., the on-board auctioneer, and Royal Caribbean. The Court of Appeals Order not only publicly recognizes the connection between the cruise line, the art auctioneer, and Park West Gallery, but it also allows for the possibility that the one entity may be responsible for the actions of the others.
The Court of Appeals goes on to indicate that the claims in the proposed amended complaint of Day/Howard would most likely survive a Motion for Summary Disposition. Thus, the Court of Appeals makes a strong statement that Day/Howard's case against Royal Caribbean will likely make its way before a jury in the future.
Don Payton, Senior Partner of Kaufman, Payton and Chapa, said: "When we originally filed suit on behalf of the plaintiffs in the Oakland County lawsuit with the assistance of Fine Art Registry, we were able to include Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCC) as a party defendant. The court, for some unknown reason, did not approve of the filed complaint and requested that we change, or amend, it. We did so, adding documentation to further substantiate the claim against Royal Caribbean. The court still did not believe it was acceptable and dismissed it. We naturally appealed, asking the Court of Appeals to reverse the lower court's ruling. The Court of Appeals did not even need to hear oral argument and peremptorily overturned the dismissal and reinstated the claim against Royal Caribbean. The case now will continue with RCC having to answer allegations of wrongdoing on their behalf."
Fine Art Registry, a Phoenix based organization which, among other services, offers advocacy for victims of art crime and abuse, researched and gathered evidence of the agency relationship between Royal Caribbean (and the cruise lines in general) and Park West Gallery, drawing from the wealth of information provided by Fine Art Registry members and past customers and employees of Park West Gallery among other sources. Teri Franks, CEO of Fine Art Registry who has continued to provide advocacy to victims of Park West Gallery's actions said, "It is indeed a great day when justice is meted out and the truth prevails. Battle lines are sure to be drawn between Royal Caribbean and Park West Gallery. The Court of Appeals ruling is a significant one and sets a stiff precedent. Perhaps Royal Caribbean and the other cruise lines will finally wake up and do what's right."
Sharon Day, speaking on behalf of the plaintiffs who had originally sued Royal Caribbean Cruises along with Park West Gallery, on learning of the Appeals Court Judges' order, said, "What a wonderful, welcome and unexpected Christmas present for me and my family."
ABOUT KAUFMAN, PAYTON & CHAPA:
Founded in 1975, Kaufman, Payton & Chapa, now has offices in Farmington Hills, Detroit and Grand Rapids and represents clients throughout the state of Michigan. Known for the aggressiveness and tenacity of it attorneys and its results-oriented approach to cases, the firm represents clients in trial and appellate matters large and small. For more information visit www.kaufmanlaw.com or contact Jonathan H. Schwartz – (248) 626 5000 .
ABOUT FINE ART REGISTRY:
Fine Art Registry® is today's only high tech solution to the age old problems that have existed in the art world since before the Ancient Greeks: How to establish provenance, prove authenticity and ownership, prevent forgery and fakery, deter theft and, basically, make it possible to create, buy and sell works of art with the security of knowing that they are what they claim to be. Fine Art Registry also investigates and reports on art crime in its mission to help bring order to the world of art. Full information on FAR® and how the system of tagging and registering art is available at www.FineArtRegistry.com.
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