## Facts

- Eulala and Russel Shute, Washington residents, bought cruise tickets through a Washington travel agent for a seven-day Carnival cruise.
- Carnival mailed the tickets after purchase; the passage contract included a forum-selection clause requiring suits to be brought only in Florida courts.
- The Shutes boarded the ship in Los Angeles.
- While the ship was in international waters off Mexico, Mrs. Shute allegedly slipped on a deck mat and was injured.
- The Shutes sued Carnival in federal court in Washington, alleging negligence.

## Issues

1. Whether a non-negotiated forum-selection clause in a standard-form cruise ticket requiring litigation in Florida is enforceable.
2. Whether lack of bargaining, alleged unequal bargaining power, and asserted hardship in litigating in Florida render the clause invalid.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit and enforced the Florida forum-selection clause.
- The Court held that non-negotiated forum-selection clauses in form passage contracts are not per se unenforceable.
- Such clauses are enforceable when, after judicial scrutiny, they are found to be fundamentally fair.
- The Court concluded the clause was not fundamentally unfair on this record.

## Legal Principles

- Forum-selection clauses are generally enforceable unless enforcement is unreasonable under the circumstances.
- A forum-selection clause in a consumer form contract is not invalid solely because it was not bargained for.
- Courts may refuse enforcement if the clause is the product of fraud or overreaching.
- Inconvenience to a party does not defeat enforcement unless the chosen forum is so gravely difficult and inconvenient that the party is effectively denied a day in court.
- A forum-selection clause may be rejected if it contravenes a strong public policy of the forum in which suit is brought.
- Selecting a forum tied to the carrier’s principal place of business and operational connections is a permissible basis supporting fairness.

## Conclusion

The Court held that a cruise line’s standard-form ticket forum-selection clause designating Florida is enforceable when it is fundamentally fair, not procured by fraud or overreaching, not effectively case-ending due to extreme inconvenience, and not contrary to strong public policy.


Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. v. Shute, 499 U.S. 585 (1991)