A federal jury in Chicago has directed Boeing to pay over $28 million to the family of Shikha Garg, a United Nations environmental expert who died in the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX crash.
The ruling, delivered on Wednesday, is the first jury verdict in litigation tied to the twin 737 MAX disasters in Ethiopia and Indonesia, which together killed 346 people.
Garg’s family will ultimately receive $35.85 million, including interest, under a settlement reached just before the verdict. The deal also bars Boeing from appealing, according to the family’s lawyers.
In a statement, Boeing expressed remorse for the loss of life, saying, “We are deeply sorry to all who lost loved ones on the two flights.” The company added that while it has resolved most claims through settlements, it “respects the right” of families who choose to pursue trials.
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Family attorneys Shanin Specter and Elizabeth Crawford said the decision holds Boeing publicly accountable for its “wrongful conduct.”
The 32-year-old Garg was among 157 people killed when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed minutes after taking off from Addis Ababa en route to Nairobi. The lawsuit argued that Boeing’s defective design and failure to warn about its automated flight control system led to the tragedy, the same issue linked to the 2018 Lion Air crash in Indonesia.
According to Reuters, Boeing has already settled more than 90% of related lawsuits, paying billions of dollars in compensation. Earlier this month, the company also quietly settled three additional cases brought by other Ethiopian crash victims’ families.