Ex P&O HR Manager Seeks £9.7m After Britannia Fall

A former senior HR manager at P&O Cruises is seeking approximately £9.7 million in compensation, alleging that a fall onboard the cruise ship Britannia has left her permanently unable to work.

Kerry Middleton, 52, says the incident occurred during a work meeting on MV Britannia while the vessel was docked in Cadiz, Spain. She claims she slipped on a wet bathroom floor, fell, and suffered a fractured neck bone.

Following the accident, Middleton later developed functional neurological disorder (FND), a condition that can cause symptoms including weakness, tremors, speech difficulties, and seizures. She says she now relies largely on a wheelchair and that her career has effectively come to an end.

Carnival Corporation, the parent company of P\&O Cruises, has admitted liability for the fall itself. However, it is disputing the scale of the compensation being sought, arguing that the available evidence does not demonstrate that Middleton is permanently unable to work.

The company’s legal team has also suggested that other factors, such as an unrelated stressful event, may have contributed to her ongoing health issues.

Central to the case is surveillance footage that Carnival wants to present as evidence. Middleton was recorded at her home on New Year’s Eve 2024, and the company claims the video shows her moving around her kitchen with greater ease than her claims would suggest.

Middleton’s legal representatives dispute this interpretation, maintaining that she continues to be significantly affected by FND and depends on a wheelchair in her daily life. They also say medical experts remain uncertain about the extent of any potential recovery and whether treatment would allow her to return to work.

A judge has ruled that the surveillance footage can be admitted as evidence, and the full trial is scheduled to take place later this month.