Two companies facing multiple lawsuits over a summer tourist boat accident in Missouri that killed 17 people have invoked an 1851 law that allows vessel owners to try to avoid or limit legal damages as they also seek settlement negotiations with victims’ family members. The companies’ filing was in federal court in western Missouri, where multiple lawsuits are pending. “Ripley’s inhuman legal ploy will sink as fast as their death trap duck boat did,” Robert Mongeluzzi, a Philadelphia attorney representing accident victims, said in a statement Monday night. The tourist duck boat capsized in rough water on the lake after a storm moved through the area. Coleman accused the Ripley and Branson Duck Vehicle attorneys of arguing that her husband and three children, who drowned in the accident, “are worthless” and called for a boycott of Ripley attractions.

Source: National Post October 16, 2018 00:18 UTC