The verdict was reached Wednesday after a weeklong trial in Chicago.
A federal court jury has awarded more than $28 million to the family of a woman who died in the crash of a Boeing 737 Max jetliner in Ethiopia more than six years ago.
The verdict was reached Wednesday on behalf of the relatives of Shikha Garg, a United Nations consultant, after a weeklong trial in Chicago, where Boeing used to have its headquarters. It was the first civil trial stemming from the March 2019 disaster that killed all 157 people on board Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302.
“We and the family are gratified by the jury’s verdict. It provides public accountability for Boeing’s wrongful conduct,” the family’s team of lawyers, Shanin Specter and Elizabeth Crawford, said in a statement after the verdict was read in court.
Boeing will pay an additional $3.4 million to Garg’s husband, Soumya Bhattacharya, as part of a deal between him and the company reached outside of court. That, along with a 26% interest charge, brings the total amount Boeing will pay to Garg’s family to $35.8 million.
The aircraft maker has negotiated pre-trial settlements in most of the dozens of wrongful death lawsuits filed after the crash, although details of the settlements were confidential and not disclosed.
