MGM Resorts International has followed up its controversial step of suing victims of last year’s mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip by offering a charitable donation for each defendant who waives or has their attorney accept legal notice of the company’s federal court complaint.
The offer would permit defendants to select a cause that supports survivors or families of the slain and a $500 donation would be made in his or her name. It would cost MGM close to $1 million if everyone accepted.
“The money spent on personal service of process𑁋up to $250 per person𑁋could be better directed to do some affirmative good,” the company’s attorneys wrote in a letter to the defendants cited by The Associated Press.
If the offers are not accepted, “We will personally serve the complaints courteously and respectfully,” MGM spokeswoman Debra DeShong said.
The offer is designed to smooth MGM’s bid to maneuver a mountain of existing and potential lawsuits related to the October 1 shooting, the worst in U.S. history, away from the jurisdiction of the states and into a federal courtroom. There the company contends a 2002 federal law will absolve it of liability for the tragedy, which left 58 people dead and more than 800 injured after a lone gunman who’d stockpiled an arsenal over several days in a suite on the 32nd floor of the company’s Mandalay Bay resort opened fire on an outdoor music festival below.
Some 22,000 people attended the festival. Thus far, more than 2,500 victims and/or family members have sued MGM or have threatened to, according to court documents. The cases could drag on for years and cost MGM millions. To head this off, the company’s retaliatory suit, filed in eight states so far, names more than 1,900 people as defendants. MGM isn’t seeking money but a declaration of immunity under the Support Anti-Terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act—the SAFETY Act, as it’s known—which Congress enacted after 9/11 to encourage companies to develop or provide security-related products or services in exchange for federal liability protection from terrorist attacks. MGM claims the company hired to provide security for the festival, Contemporary Services Corp., is shielded from liability because its services are certified by the Department of Homeland Security. The legal argument is that this this protection extends to MGM as CSC’s contractor.
There is a significant catch, though, in that Homeland Security has yet to determine whether the Mandalay gunman, who killed himself before his intentions could be known, perpetrated an “act of terrorism”. The department says it is reviewing the case. MGM argues that the department’s authority isn’t exclusive under the law and that a judge could make the determination.
