NCLH Seeks Dismissal of Frank Del Rio’s $8m Lawsuit

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and four former directors have asked a Miami-Dade judge to permanently dismiss a compensation lawsuit brought by former President and CEO Frank Del Rio, arguing that statements in his own court filings have undermined his case.

In a joint reply filed Aug. 25 with the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, lawyers representing NCLH, NCL (Bahamas) Ltd. and former directors Russell Galbut, Harry Curtis, Mary Landry and Stella David claimed Del Rio’s opposition brief effectively dropped one of his claims while weakening the remaining allegations.

Del Rio filed the lawsuit in May, claiming he was persuaded to retire early after being promised a 4.5-year consulting agreement valued at $18 million.

However, he alleges the written agreement he subsequently received covered only 2.5 years and was worth $10 million. Del Rio is seeking the remaining $8 million he claims he was promised.

Attorneys for the defense said Del Rio has acknowledged that the alleged additional two-year oral agreement is prevented from being enforced under Florida’s Statute of Frauds and has characterized the arrangement as unenforceable. The defense also argued that the allegations contained in Del Rio’s own complaint have created difficulties for his case.

According to the filing, the complaint portrays Del Rio as a serving CEO who knowingly agreed to keep an alleged $8 million arrangement separate from the written Transition, Retirement and Consulting Agreement. The defense said this was done in an attempt to avoid another unsuccessful Say-on-Pay shareholder vote.

Regarding the fraud allegations, the defense claimed Del Rio has conceded that his complaint does not provide precise dates for the alleged statements or clearly distinguish what each individual director is accused of saying.

According to the filing, Del Rio instead proposed using the discovery process to further develop and clarify those allegations.