ABC: MGM sues Las Vegas shooting victims, argues it isn't liable

In a bid (a disgusting one) to avoid liability for the mass shooting at the Mandalay Bay casino-resort in Las Vegas, MGM Resorts International has sued hundreds of the victims from the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. However, victims with active lawsuits against MGM won’t face the company’s legal claim.

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In lawsuits filed last Friday in Nevada and California, the company argued that it has “no liability of any kind to survivors or families of slain victims under a federal law enacted after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.”¹

“MGM says the 2002 law limits liabilities when a company or group uses services certified by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and mass attacks occur. The company says it is not liable because its security vendor for the concert, Contemporary Services Corp., was federally certified at the time of the Oct. 1 shooting.
MGM claims the victims — through actual and threatened lawsuits — have implicated CSC’s services because they involve concert security, including training, emergency response and evacuation.”²

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According to the lawsuits, the defendants claims actually implicate the security company, not them and MGM wants a court to declare that U.S. law “precludes any finding of liability” against the company “for any claim for injuries arising out of or related to Paddock’s mass attack.”³

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As you all know, I am not a lawyer, but even I can see that this move is likely to become a public relations nightmare. Brian Claypool, an attorney who was at the music festival during the shooting and who currently represents dozens of victims said,

“We collectively view this as a bullying tactic to intimidate the survivors who are rightfully seeking social change and redress through the litigation process.”⁴

And attorney Robert Eglet, who represents victims in a lawsuit currently pending in federal court in Nevada, said,

“MGM has done something that in over 30 years of practice is the most outrageous thing I have ever seen. They have sued the families of victims while they’re still grieving over their loved ones.”⁵