Carnival Settles Sex Suit

Carnival Cruise Lines has settled before trial a sex-attack lawsuit that forced the big cruise operator to make public an embarrassing accounting of 108 sex-assault charges, Carnival spokesman Tim Gallagher said. Terms were being kept secret as part of the settlement. The suit was brought by a 29-year-old nurse who claimed she had been raped by another crewmember aboard Carnival's Imagination during August 1998. A trial in the case, whose plaintiff was never publicly identified, was scheduled to begin in a Miami court next week. The suit alleged that Carnival's screening of staff was poor and inadequate.