The 1991 Supreme Court case Carnival v. Shute could halt lawsuits against Carnival Corp. and its Italian business unit in relation to the Costa Concordia disaster.

In 1988, Eulala Shute and her husband took a Carnival cruise from Los Angeles to Mexico. While the boat was in international waters, Shute slipped and fell onboard. When Shute returned from her trip, she sued Carnival in her home state of Washington, claiming the cruise line’s negligence caused her injuries.