A federal jury in Chicago has awarded more than $35 million to the family of Shikha Garg, a United Nations worker who died in the 2019 Boeing 737 Max crash in Ethiopia.
The verdict was reached on Wednesday, Nov. 12 — over six years after Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 went down shortly after takeoff, killing all 157 people on board, according to Reuters and CBS News.
Garg’s family will receive a total of $35.85 million through a court-approved resolution. The amount includes the full verdict sum plus 26% interest, per the reports.
Garg had been traveling to Nairobi, Kenya, to attend a United Nations environmental assembly when the aircraft crashed just six minutes after takeoff, CBS News reported. She was among 22 U.N. staff members who lost their lives in the accident.
The Ethiopian Airlines tragedy occurred roughly five months after the Lion Air crash in Jakarta, Indonesia, which killed 189 people. Families from both incidents have filed lawsuits alleging Boeing bears responsibility.
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Lawyers Shanin Specter and Elizabeth Crawford said in a statement that the verdict “provides public accountability for Boeing’s wrongful conduct,” according to Reuters.
A Boeing spokesperson stated the company is “deeply sorry to all who lost loved ones” in both crashes and confirmed that Boeing will not appeal the jury’s decision.
“While we have resolved the vast majority of these claims through settlements, families are also entitled to pursue their claims through damages trials in court and we respect their right to do so,” the spokesperson said.
Attorneys representing Garg’s family argued that the Boeing jet was defectively designed and that the company failed to adequately warn passengers and operators about its safety risks, Reuters reported.
The jury’s role was limited to determining how Garg’s relatives should be compensated, not whether Boeing was liable for the crash.
The Associated Press reported that the verdict followed about two hours of deliberation.
Boeing has already negotiated settlements with many of the victims’ families from both crashes. Fewer than a dozen related lawsuits remain unresolved.
