Las Vegas shooting: why hotel is suing 1,000 victims
Lawyers for survivors of the massacre say decision to file claims is ‘utterly reprehensible’
The owner of the Las Vegas hotel where a gunman shot dozens of concertgoers has provoked outrage by filing a lawsuit against the victims of the massacre.
On 1 October last year, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opened fire on crowds at a music festival from the window of his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, killing 59 people and wounding a further 851 before turning the gun on himself.
MGM Resorts International, owner of the Mandalay Bay and the festival venue, has now named more than 1,000 of those caught up in the deadly rampage in two lawsuits aimed at blocking liability claims from victims.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The company says that 2,500 people have started or threatened legal action against them relating to the massacre, the largest in modern US history.
In the lawsuits filed on Friday, “the company cites a 2002 federal act that extends liability protection to any company that uses ‘anti-terrorism’ technology or services that can ‘help prevent and respond to mass violence’,” the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.
The security service hired for the festival had been certified by the Department of Homeland Security as capable of “protecting against and responding to acts of mass injury and destruction”, which MGM argues should absolve the company of liability for the shooting.
The lawsuits do not seek any money, and legal experts say the proceedings are a formality.
However, lawyers representing the victims have lambasted the company’s actions as insensitive and unethical.
“We are shocked,” attorney Catherine Lombardo, who represents several hundred victims, told CNN’s sister network HLN.
She added that MGM was “absolutely liable” for allowing Paddock to amass so many firearms in his hotel room. More than 20 rifles were found in the room, brought into the hotel in bags.
In the lawsuits, MGM requests that the individual claims against them be moved from state to federal court, where a judge can rule on the viability of future claims against the resort firm.
Robert Eglet, an attorney representing some of the victims, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the decision to file the complaints in federal court was a “blatant display of judge shopping” which “verges on unethical”.
However, MGM Resort International defended the decision as being in the best interests of the victims, NBC reports.
“The federal court is an appropriate venue for these cases and provides those affected with the opportunity for a timely resolution,” said company spokeswoman Debra DeShong. “Years of drawn out litigation and hearings are not in the best interest of victims, the community and those still healing.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Two ancient cities have been discovered along the Silk Road
Under the radar The discovery changed what was known about the old trade route
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
'People shouldn't have to share the road with impaired drivers'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Is academic freedom in peril?
Today's Big Question Faculty punishments are on the rise
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Unlicensed dealers and black market guns
Speed Read 68,000 illegally trafficked guns were sold in a five year period, said ATF
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Uvalde parents want indictments after DOJ's scathing school shooting report
Speed Read The Justice Department's damning review of the May 2022 school shooting in Texas details 'cascading failures,' but families of the victims want justice
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Why police are downing firearms after the Chris Kaba murder charge
The Explainer Army drafted in after scores of armed Met officers 'revolt' over charging of colleague
By The Week Staff Published
-
Texas school shooting: why it took 400 police 77 minutes to stop killer
Speed Read Report into massacre offers scathing assessment of law enforcement response
By The Week Staff Published
-
School shootings: what can be done to stop them?
Talking Point The shooting at a school in Uvalde has reignited the debate over gun control in America
By The Week Staff Published
-
New Jersey shooting: what happened?
In Depth Six killed including one police officer in four-hour stand-off in kosher supermarket
By Gabriel Power Last updated
-
Plymouth mass shooting: who can own a firearm?
In Depth Police force investigated after killer Jake Davison was given back a gun and permit last month
By The Week Staff Published
-
Plymouth mass shooting: who can own a firearm?
In Depth Police force investigated after killer Jake Davison was given back a gun and permit last month
By The Week Staff Published