As Boeing faces new scrutiny, families of Max crash victims still in limbo

That stipulation guaranteed payments to each family to recognize the loss of their loved ones, something that is never a sure thing if a case goes to trial, said Erin Applebaum, an attorney from Kreindler and Kreindler who is representing some of the victim’s families.

It also guaranteed that Boeing could not ask a judge to move the cases to the family’s home countries, where they may receive smaller sums, attorneys representing the families said.

In the years since that stipulation, Boeing settled roughly 100 of the 142 civil cases in Illinois.

U.S. District Judge Jorge Alonso set three trial dates for six cases each, but each case settled before reaching that stage. The details of those settlements will not be disclosed.

Now, with 37 cases remaining, attorneys representing the families are preparing for the upcoming trial in November to determine how much each family is owed by Boeing. To do so, they are hosting mock trials with a mock jury, reviewing video interviews from people who lost loved ones in the crash, and gathering some quantitative metrics, like a calculation of how much individuals who died would have earned over their lifetimes.

The attorneys also created individual animations to illustrate what each victim experienced in their final moments before the plane crashed, helping to account for a pain and suffering calculation.

“We put together a presentation, we give it to Boeing … to explain this person wasn’t just a seat number. They were a human being,” Applebaum said. “The person who died because of Boeing’s negligence can’t speak for themselves anymore. We have to speak for them.”

Chance for Boeing to take the stand

Though the remaining 37 cases could go to trial, those proceedings wouldn’t include any new revelations from Boeing documents or depositions of company executives. Boeing’s culpability is a settled issue; those trials are only to determine compensation for each case.

In court records from January, plaintiffs representing the families said they expected roughly 20 of the remaining cases to go to trial. Boeing’s attorneys disagreed — they expect more will reach a conclusion before a jury is convened.

The possibility of Boeing executives taking the stand is still there, though. Two families did not sign the stipulation, and they hope for a trial that forces Boeing to share more about what went wrong, including bringing former CEO Dennis Muilenberg and current CEO Dave Calhoun to the witness stand.

Those plaintiffs are the families of 24-year-old Samya Rose Stumo, and of a married Kenyan couple, Jared Babu Mwazo and Mercy Ngami Ndivo, who left behind a baby.

Judge Alonso put those two cases on hold as attorneys for Boeing and the other families discussed mediation and settlements. Clifford, who represents the Kenyan family that did not agree to the stipulation, said Judge Alonso had indicated he would revisit the stay in May.

Ralph Nader — consumer advocate, former presidential candidate and the great-uncle of Samya Rose Stumo — is skeptical that will happen. He has accused the judge and Boeing of dragging their feet on litigation and pushing for settlements that take place behind a “curtain of indefinite secrecy.”

In a recent interview with The Seattle Times, Nader said Boeing’s “main goal is to prevent a public trial by jury … and to prevent the discovery of Boeing internal documents and deposition of Boeing executives.”

“If they get away with all that, convert 340 lives lost into dollars, which they can easily deduct, insure and keep going as if business as usual,” he said. “It destroys the whole concept of the civil justice system.”