Yet another lawsuit involving Sens owner Eugene Melnyk, this time over a Christmas vacation

Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk has been at the centre of several lawsuits, either ones he's launched or ones that have been launched against him. Add another to the list as Melnyk is seeking $10 million dollars from a company over a Christmas vacation during the middle of a global pandemic that he claims went horribly wrong.

According to court documents obtained by CBC News, Melnyk and his girlfriend chartered a $500,000-a-week superyacht in the Bahamas to spend the Christmas holiday with friends and family. Melnyk is claiming the captain of the boat ruined everyone's experience by being difficult, adding he "was easily flustered and overwhelmed and seemed completely unfamiliar with the area, the crew or the vessel."

The court documents allege Melnyk and his girlfriend had a "harrowing 10-15 hour ordeal" when the captain decided to bring the yacht into the open ocean, where the two "became violently ill, vomiting throughout the night." The boat then spent a couple of days in calmer seas before picking up Melnyk's mother and other guests. He's claiming they, too became violently ill because of the captain's "intentional and reckless conduct." Melnyk and his girlfriend are both seeking $5 million US for negligence, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress in a South Florida court. The false imprisonment claim stems from the captain not allowing anyone to leave the vessel when the trip was supposed to end on New Year's Day due to rough waters. He insisted on sailing the 18 hours back to Nassau, allegedly causing more illness and distress for the guests.

As for why Melnyk would be allowed to leave Canada amid lockdowns and travel restrictions, he told CBC through his lawyer that while he is a Canadian citizen, he's been a resident of Barbados since the 1990s and did not travel from Canada to take the trip.

The company that owns the boat and that supplied the captain is denying all allegations, saying the guests even told the company they had a great time after the trip had ended, adding he has 20 years' experience with these types of excursions.

Source: CBC News

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