Legal News

Fisherman Cites Mexico Dangers in Suing Tour Operator

By Matthew Heller, Editor

A Portland, Ore., real estate developer who was shot during an ?exotic angling? trip to Mexico has filed a negligence lawsuit that tests whether tour companies have a duty to warn customers about dangerous destinations.

Lake Huites

Thorndike ?Dike? Dame booked his trip to Lake Huites, a prime bass fishing destination in the state of Sinaloa, through Fishin' Expeditions, a company that specializes in providing ?fishing adventures of a lifetime.? Guests stay at the company's Trophy Bass Lodge.

But Dame's adventure turned sour Nov. 14, 2009 when he was shot in the face and seriously wounded by an unidentified gunman who had approached him in a small boat while he was fishing on the remote lake with another Portland man and a Trophy Bass Lodge guide.

Sinaloa has been severely affected by Mexico's endemic drug-related violence, its murder rate now the third-highest in the nation. And that is the context for Dame's suit against Fishin' Expeditions and Trophy Bass Lodge, which seeks $4.8 million in damages, including $800,000 in past and future medical expenses.

?[D]efendants were negligent in failing to warn or advise plaintiff of the dangerousness and lawlessness existing in the State of Sinaloa generally, and of the dangerousness and lawlessness  existing in the Lake Huites region particularly,? the complaint alleges.

The case could set an important precedent since, as an Ohio judge noted, there is little case law ?concerning a travel agent's duty to warn clients of any unusual or unreasonable hazards at destinations to which they are traveling.? Fling v. Hollywood Travel and Tours, 765 F. Supp. 1302 (1990).

Courts have split on the issue, with U.S. travel agents or tour operators being held liable for assaults on customers in the Bahamas and Jamaica but not for similar attacks in the Virgin Islands and Italy.

?[W]here tour companies are not owners or occupiers of property where plaintiffs are injured, the tour operator owes no duty to tour members to inform them of the possible hazardous conditions which may exist on the property of others,? a New York judge said in Loeb v. U.S., 793 F.Supp. 431 (1992).

According to Dame, he was assaulted on Lake Huites by two men, one armed with an AK-47 assault rifle, a weapon favored by drug cartel members. His fishing partner, Chip Laizure, told Willamette Week that he fell to the deck of their boat after a bullet hit him in the cheek.

?These guys are racing towards us and yelling 'kneel down' and 'get our hands up.' They board the boat and rob us,? Laizure recalled. After stripping the Americans and their guide of their valuables, the robbers demanded to be taken to the remote end of the lake, where they jumped off the boat and disappeared into the jungle.

Dame eventually reached a hospital in the city of Los Mochis six hours later. ?As a direct result of defendants' negligence, plaintiff suffered the aforementioned assault, and the gunman left plaintiff to die in the bottom of the fishing boat,? he says in his suit.

The U.S. State Department currently advises travelers to defer unnecessary travel to parts of Sinaloa, noting that one of Mexico's ?most powerful? drug trafficking organizations is based in the state. Dame says if Fishin' Expeditions had warned him of the dangers of Sinaloa, ?he would not have traveled to the Trophy Bass Lodge for a fishing vacation.?

But in the Fling case, general crime statistics were not enough to make a travel agent liable for an attack on tourists near their hotel in the Bahamas. ?[U]nless plaintiff shows evidence of special circumstances, e.g. prior attacks or exposure to a 'high crime area,' no duty is imposed [on] defendants to investigate potential vacation sites or to warn travelers absent knowledge of a dangerous condition,? U.S. District Judge David D. Dowd ruled.

At least until the attack on Dame, Lake Huites appears to have been relatively safe. ?Headed to Huites with a group on 2/7,? one angler posted on a messageboard in January 2009. ?Last time down, felt very safe. Hoping for another awesome experience.?

Dame obviously had an awful experience but tour operators might be chilled from booking anyone on a trip to Mexico if Fishin' Expeditions could be held liable for his injuries without evidence that Lake Huites, specifically, was a ?known, high crime area.?

By Matthew Heller
On Point

Full post as published by On Point News on February 16, 2011 (boomark / email).