The $21.5 million cruise ship door verdict, and why a judge later threw it out

A man hit in the head by an automatic sliding door on a Holland America cruise ship won a $21.5 million jury verdict in 2015. That case is the story behind an Aug. 14, 2026, clip from The Injury Firm, shared as a collaboration with Juice Unlocked and other regional news pages under the headline "Hit his head... won $21 million."

The clip leaves out the ending. In January 2016, the federal judge who oversaw the trial threw out the verdict and ordered a new trial after finding the passenger had deleted emails he should have turned over, the Associated Press reported.

What happened on the ship

James Hausman of Springfield, Illinois, was traveling with his wife and daughter on the first leg of a round-the-world cruise aboard the M/S Amsterdam, according to the AP. On Nov. 26, 2011, as the ship approached Hawaii, an automatic sliding-glass door closed on him and struck him in the face and side of the head. Surveillance video captured the moment.

A ship doctor diagnosed a concussion and Hausman finished the trip. His attorneys said later tests showed a minor brain injury that caused seizures, memory loss and vertigo.

The verdict

Hausman sued in 2013. In late October 2015, a federal jury in Seattle awarded him $21.5 million, including $16.5 million in punitive damages.

His lawyer, Rick Friedman, argued the doors' motion sensors were set to open and close faster than normal. The ABA Journal reported the claim was that the line did this apparently to save on air conditioning. U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein let jurors hear about 16 earlier sliding-door incidents on Holland America ships. The company denied the sensor claims, said in court documents that Hausman walked into the closing doors and asked the court to reduce the judgment.

Why it was thrown out

After the trial, Hausman's former personal assistant, Amy Mizeur, came forward. She said she watched him spend several days deleting emails, including ones he should have turned over before trial, and that he failed to disclose one of his email accounts, according to the AP.

Rothstein found Mizeur credible and wrote that Hausman came across as "evasive and untrustworthy." She found the deletions were deliberate and "substantially interfered" with the company's ability to prepare for trial. One recovered email described a day spent chopping ice on his porch from a 10-foot ladder with a fire ax, though he had testified that he avoids ladders.

Hausman called the deletions routine inbox cleanup. Friedman called the ruling "frustrating and disappointing." Holland America said it was pleased and looked forward to presenting its case. No retrial date had been set at the time.

Partner content: this clip was produced by The Injury Firm, an accident law firm with offices in Anaheim Hills and Irvine, and posted as a collaboration with Juice Unlocked. Juice Unlocked found no reporting on a retrial or final outcome. This is not legal advice.