Posted by e-shark on January 15, 2003 at 16:46:05:
In Reply to: Just what authority does a DM have? posted by Captain Tim on January 14, 2003 at 16:45:52:
If (a) a charterer-supplied DM tells a passenger that he cannot dive, (b) the captain tells the passenger that he can dive notwithstanding what the DM said, and (c) the diver has a dive accident, the captain can expect a lawsuit. The plaintiff's chances of success are pretty good. After the jury has heard the DM who was on the scene testify that the diver was an accident waiting to happen, the only real question will be how many trailing zeroes are in the damages the jury awards. The captain should not count on a liability waiver to save him. Allowing an unqualified* diver to dive notwithstanding what the DM said is arguably gross negligence. The liability waiver does not cover that.
*The diver was obviously unqualified, since there was a dive accident. ;-) Post hoc ergo propter hoc is one of those nice logical distinctions that juries routinely ignore.