world-economy

Chicago Jury Awards $49.5M in Boeing 737 MAX Wrongful Death Case

A federal jury in Chicago awarded $49.5 million Wednesday to the family of Samya Stumo, a 24-year-old killed in Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in 2019. The verdict marks one of the final resolutions from two Boeing 737 MAX crashes that claimed 346 lives within months of each other in 2018 and 2019. Boeing had previously admitted responsibility, making the trial focus solely on compensatory damages. The jury allocated $21 million for Stumo's in-flight experience, $16.5 million for the family's loss of companionship and $12 million for their grief. Boeing reached a Justice Department agreement avoiding criminal prosecution and settled dozens of related lawsuits confidentially. Attorneys Shanin Specter and Elizabeth Crawford of Kline & Specter, representing Stumo's estate, expressed satisfaction with the opportunity to pursue the case through trial.