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Michael Jackson, BP and Wrongful Death

By Joe Consumer

 One magnificent thing about our civil justice system is that, whether you are rich and famous (like actor James Woods, or Michael Jackson?s family here, here) or the poorest and most vulnerable among us, you are allowed to challenge the largest corporation or government agency and hold them accountable in court for causing someone?s death.  That is, unless legislatures stop you.

In LA, Michael Jackson's mother and his three children have now filed a wrongful death case against AEG Live, the promoters organizing the concerts for which Michael was rehearsing when he died.  Read the complaint here.

The family says AEG Live

[P]ut ?its desire for massive profits? over his health and safety.  They say AEF "instructed" Michael to "stop seeing and taking medications from his current doctor" and rely on Dr. Conrad Murray, whom AEG hired for $150,000 a month, to be sure that Jackson could "attend rehearsals and perform." Katharine Jackson claims Murray accepted AEG's terms on May 8, 2009, and 4 days later "made his first order ... of the drug Propofol (Diprivan) for Michael Jackson," which is believed to have killed the entertainer 6 weeks later at his home.

More on Dr. Murray here.

Katherine?s skilled attorney Brian J. Panish said in a statement, "The purpose of this lawsuit is to prove to the world the truth about what happened to Michael Jackson, once and for all."

Finding out what happened ? in addition to providing justice to families ? is exactly what "wrongful death" laws are all about.  Yet incredibly, the one group of families one would think should have the same ?wrongful death? rights as everyone else ? the 11 families of workers killed in the Deepwater Horizon explosion ? don?t. 

Congress has got to change this archaic federal wrongful death law - Death on the High Seas Act.  Right now, it is helping Transocean (and BP) largely escape responsibility to these families by severely limiting what companies owe surviving family members of those killed more than three nautical miles from shore.

Here?s what consumer groups wrote about this terrible law in a letter to Congress last June:

Under current law, families are prohibited from recovering anything but pecuniary loss, such as lost income or wages, for those who  are economically dependent upon the decedent.  For example, one of the 11 workers  killed on the Deepwater Horizon, 24-year-old Adam Weise, is survived only by his mother, leaving behind no dependents.  Under current law, his mother could recover no more than his funeral expenses as compensation for his death.  A change in the law would make available to her and all the families compensation for lost care, comfort, and companionship, as well as pre-death pain and suffering.  DOHSA was last amended by Congress in 2000 to provide these non-pecuniary damages in the event of a plane crash.  HR 5503 would eradicate this inconsistency in the law, so that that all families of those killed on the high seas, whether on an oil rig or in a plane crash, are treated equally.

Terrible.  We're happy to see the Jackson family pursuing their rights.  We hope there's justice at the end of this process.  Everyone should have these rights ... shouldn't they?

Full post as published by ThePopTort on September 16, 2010 (boomark / email).