Royal Caribbean is not responsible in the death of 18-month-old Chloe Wiegand, a federal judge has ruled.
The toddler was killed when her grandfather Salvatore Anello accidentally dropped her out the window of a docked cruise ship in July of 2019.
The family had sued the company, claiming it had failed to "adequately mark the open windows" or "install safety prevention devices."
But on Tuesday, right before the case was set to go to trial in Florida next week, U.S. District Judge Donald Graham threw the lawsuit out, ruling the responsibility lay with Anello alone.
"Mr. Anello reached out in front of him and felt no glass in the window opening before extending the Decedent out to the window opening," he wrote in his ruling, per NBC.
"A reasonable person through ordinary use of his senses would have known of the dangers associated with Mr. Anello's conduct. Accordingly, the defendant owed no duty to warn of it."
The judge concluded: "The true risk-creating danger here was Mr. Anello lifting a child up to an open window. The Plaintiffs have provided no evidence showing the Defendant was on notice of that danger."
The family's attorney Michael Winkleman said they plan to appeal the decision.
"The family is surprised and deeply saddened by the court's ruling. This is a matter that should be decided by a jury, and we are confident and hopeful the appellate court will agree," he told Daily Mail.
"We will be filing the appeal shortly and we will continue to fight and raise awareness about the dangers of unintentional toddler window falls. This case was always about Chloe and shining a light on her brief but beautiful life."