MGM Resorts Suing Over 1,000 Las Vegas Shooting Victims to Bypass Liability Issues

Over 1,000 victims from the 2017 Las Vegas massacre are being sued by MGM Resorts International as a way for the company to fend off any liability claims from the mass shooting.

Over 1,000 victims from the 2017 Las Vegas massacre are being sued by MGM Resorts International as a way for the company to fend off any liability claims from the mass shooting, Newsweek reports.

Mandalay Bay Hotel owners have asserted they can’t be held accountable for the multiple deaths and injuries last October, when gunman Stephen Paddock rented a room and subsequently opened fire at people attending the Route 91 Harvest country music festival. They added that all claims made against them “must be dismissed,” per the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Complaints from Nevada and California state that the company—which owns the music festival location—took acceptable actions to prevent a situation like the shooting, and it doesn’t bear responsibility for “liability of any kind to defendants.”

Hundreds of lawsuits have been placed against the company since the shooting, which left 58 people dead and more than 850 injured. The suits allege the company was careless and did a poor job of overseeing who entered and exited the building. Because of that, Paddock was able to hole up in a room with an armory of guns and ammunition.

Las Vegas attorney Robert Eglet, who is working with a number of the victims, views the company's lawsuits as a “blatant display of judge shopping” that “quite frankly verges on unethical.”

“I’ve never seen a more outrageous thing, where they sue the victims in an effort to find a judge they like,” Eglet told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “It’s just really sad that they would stoop to this level.”

However, MGM spokeswoman Debra DeShong told 8 News Now:

“The unforeseeable events of October 1 affected thousands of people in Las Vegas and throughout North America. From the day of this tragedy, we have focused on the recovery of those impacted by the despicable act of one evil individual. While we expected the litigation that followed, we also feel strongly that victims and the community should be able to recover and find resolution in a timely manner. Congress provided that the Federal Courts were the correct place for such litigation relating to incidents of mass violence like this one where security services approved by the Department of Homeland Security were provided. The Federal Court is an appropriate venue for these cases and provides those affected with the opportunity for a timely resolution. Years of drawn out litigation and hearings are not in the best interest of victims, the community and those still healing.”

The Las Vegas mass shooting has been recorded as the most deadly in modern U.S. history.

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