ETHIOPIAN Airlines crash victims’ families demand record $58bn settlement

Published By Jane Njeri For The Statesman Digital
3 months ago

Ribbeck Law Chartered (RLC), a law firm based in the United States that is representing Kenyan as well as other families of the 2019 Ethiopian Airline’s Boeing 737 Max plane crash victims, is pushing for higher compensation.

On July 24, 2024, the American plane maker finalized an agreement with the US Department of Justice to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge and was to pay a fine ranging between $243.6 million and $487 million.

RLC, in a plea submission to a US District Court, revealed that the amount being proposed by the airline as compensation is too little, as it only represents a fraction of $24.8 billion that families of the crash victims had initially requested.

Manuel von Ribbeck, Founding Partner at Ribbeck Law Chartered, said the firm is pushing for a much higher compensation amount of between $47 billion and $58 billion, adding that the decision is in line with previous criminal fraud cases involving corporate firms where larger fines amounting to billions of dollars were charged.

“Ribbeck Law Chartered on behalf of its clients, vehemently objects to the proposed plea agreement entered into by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Boeing concerning the recent criminal fraud charges. The proposed fine is grossly inadequate and fails to meet the standards set by prior precedents in penalizing corporations for similar egregious conduct,” said Ribbeck, Founding Partner at RLC.

The law firm is urging the Court to dismiss the proposed plea suggesting that Boeing should be required to pay a substantial fine that recognizes the value of 346 people killed and the significant harm to others and pay a fine that is consistent with fines paid by other corporate criminal defendants who have engaged in extreme criminal conduct.

“Historically, fines for corporate criminal fraud have been in the billions, reflecting the gravity of such offences and serving as a deterrent to other corporations. In stark contrast, the proposed fine for Boeing is a mere fraction of these amounts, failing to reflect the catastrophic consequences of their actions and undermining public trust in the justice system,” added Ribbeck.

The lawyers stated that the severity of Boeing’s actions, which resulted in the tragic loss of 346 lives in the 737 MAX crashes, demand a far more substantial financial penalty.

The Ethiopian Airlines jet headed to Nairobi from Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport in Ethiopia crashed shortly after take-off, killing all 149 passengers on board, including 32 Kenyans amongst 30 other nationalities.